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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24924592">Machines At Work</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/peanutbutterpacifist/pseuds/peanutbutterpacifist'>peanutbutterpacifist</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Detroit Evolution - Fandom, Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Asexual Nines, Canon-Typical Violence, Drinking, First Kiss, M/M, Masturbation, Mechanics AU, Mentions of drugs, Mutual Pining, Pansexual Gavin Reed, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Romance, Slow Burn, Smoking, Soft!RK900, Swearing, because Gavin, buddy cops without the cop part</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:33:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>27,459</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24924592</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/peanutbutterpacifist/pseuds/peanutbutterpacifist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Reed900 but make them mechanics. When his hazing of one android apprentice leads to an official union complaint that almost gets his ass canned, Gavin thinks he’ll never have to work with one of the tin cans again. But then Fowler assigns him a another one, and things change.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Machines At Work</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I don’t wanna write cops stories, so let’s make them mechanics instead. In this AU Hank and Connor were still part of the "good ending"<br/>of the revolution, they just… did it as mechanics instead of detectives. I dunno how yet, maybe I’ll explore that in a future story. Thanks to my partner for many tips on mechanic jargon/ambiance. The POV switches between Gavin and Nines roughly equally. </p><p>I'm contractually obligated to mention that Gavin’s truck is a 1978 Chevy C10, and his little shitty daily driver is a Toyota Celica.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Getting kidnapped wasn’t that bad, honestly. Getting roughed up wasn’t what you’d call pleasant, but it was, well, </span>
  <em>
    <span>familiar</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Almost comforting in a way. Like, yes, this shoe has finally dropped, no need to fret about it anymore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin Reed had known since before he hit puberty that there was a good chance he’d die by the hand/fist/knife/gun of some punks or thugs eventually. He kind of assumed it would be more of the past-catching-up-to-you variety, though, not a helping-your-android-lover-fight-nazis situation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>These guys were pretty straight forward in their approach: Ask question, punch face (or stomach/etc). It was starting to wear Gavin down, but he figured he still had at least ten minutes worth of sarcastic quips left in him when that damn boyfriend of his suddenly fell out of the sky to rescue him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please don’t get shot,” was the first thing Gavin said, and then what did the damn android do? Immediately get himself shot. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>-------------- Gavin, four months earlier ---------------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gavin! Get your ass in my office now!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bustle of the shop grew quiet for a moment as all the techs paused to look up at Fowler’s voice, but quickly returned to normal levels as everyone realized it was just Gavin in trouble, again. Nothing out of the ordinary.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You screwed up this time, Reed,” Fowler said as Gavin shut the door behind him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin opened his mouth, a ‘your mom’ joke ready to go, but then snapped it shut when he saw the look on Fowler’s face. He settled on a petulant, “what?” instead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know exactly what. I warned you about the hazing, and you stepped way over the line with this one.” Fowler picked up a piece of paper stamped with an official-looking logo from his desk and waved it around. “Connor made an official complaint to the union, and the only reason I’m not firing you is because, for some reason, he asked me not to. You realize what you did could be considered a hate crime, right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. He secretly wondered if maybe he </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> gone too far with the latest prank. But damned if he’d admit it out loud.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So. You get to keep your job. Congrats. And from now on, you are to have no contact with Connor at work or outside it. He’s moving departments to get away from you, so it shouldn’t be too hard, even for a dumbass like you.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Everyone knew he was gonna go back to towing anyway,” Gavin muttered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I’m assigning you a new apprentice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin jerked his head up. “Aw, c’mon.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t want to hear a word out of your mouth right now unless it’s ‘thank you’ or ‘yes sir’. If I hear even the breath of a rumor that you’re harassing or hazing this one, you’ll be gone so fast you’re gonna leave a sonic boom behind you, get it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, sir.” Had there been onlookers, they would not have called his tone ‘contrite’ or ‘respectful’, but for Gavin, ‘less sarcastic than normal’ was as close as he got. “So who’s hand do I have the privilege of holding now?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“RK900,” Fowler responded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “Wait, one of the tin cans? Are you kidding me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“See that’s the kind of language that we were just discussing.” But Fowler was smiling now, enjoying this. “He’s already graduated from the tech program. He’s nearly a journeyman, and he wants to specialize in diesels, and that’s you, bub.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, great, so I also get to train my replacement? No thanks. You may as well fire me now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t be dramatic. Androids might as well be humans at this point, we have to pay them almost as much.  Your job is safe, as long as you stop acting like a toddler with a piece of broccoli.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin didn’t have anything to add to this except more expletives, so he left, slamming the office door behind him. He ignored the snickers and wolf whistles from the other techs as he stomped over to his tool box and logged in to his tablet so forcefully that it nearly bounced onto the floor. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I thought our job was to repair things, not break them.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin stiffened and turned around slowly, suppressing the urge to simply throw the tablet into the android’s face. It was the RK900, right on fucking que. He’d seen him around the shop these last few months, but never talked with him. He was easy to spot since he was the only android to still wear his default uniform, glowing blue armband and all; a model closely related to Connor, but noticeably taller and also, Gavin now saw, with startling pale gray eyes instead of the RK800’s dull brown ones. He was also the first toaster Gavin had seen in months who still had an LED on his temple. Weird.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s get something straight, tin can. Unless I ask, I don’t want your opinion. And I’ll never ask, got it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Got it,” the android replied, tone neutral and his LED a serene blue. So, not as easily riled as Connor it seemed. Kind of disappointing, but probably for the best.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin pointed to his screen. “Make yourself useful and go find out why the AC in that box truck is blowing hot.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where are you going?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“None of your--” he caught himself, took a breath, counted to five. He really had to watch himself, Fowler sounded like he meant it this time. He continued in a calmer voice. “I’ll be right back. Just do your work. Give me a report in half an hour.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He snatched up his coffee cup and walked over to where Tina was working. “Can you believe this shit?” He started.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She rolled herself out from under the Badger she was working on and looked up at him. “I hate to tell you I told you so, but, wait, no actually I don’t.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck you. It was just a joke. Everyone’s overreacting.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dumping a bucket of fake blue blood on your android co-worker goes a bit beyond joking, Gavin.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He kicked at a speck of dirt on the concrete. “It was just paint, and it washed off.” He muttered, but the heat had gone out of his voice. If even Tina was losing patience with him, maybe he really did screw up. “He literally punched me in the face last year, did you see me making an official complaint?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You earned that, and you know it. I notice you backed off him after that, too, so maybe you learned something about antagonizing people?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Used to be a guy could have some fun at work without everyone freaking out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever. I’m not your mom.” She said and rolled back under the Badger. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve finished with the box truck,” said a voice practically in his ear. Gavin jumped and whirled around. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stop sneaking up on me you damn toaster.” He shouted in the android’s face. RK900 took a step backward, his expression didn’t change, but his LED swirled yellow. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry that I startled you Mr. Reed, perhaps I should put bells on my shoes?” He said, sounding extremely innocent. Gavin narrowed his eyes. Was he--was that a joke? From under the car came a muffled laugh from Tina. Evidently yes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How did you finish so quickly?” He snatched the tablet from the android’s hands and scanned it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you forget I can interface directly with both the ECU’s and the shop network? I’m quite efficient. Th</span>
  <span>e AC compressor’s clutch was dead, I replaced it with a new one from stock.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“OK, since you’re apparently here for wisdom from an experienced mechanic, here’s a pro tip: stop being so efficient, the office will just start giving you more work.” He kept his eyes on the tablet, looking for a task that would get the toaster out of his face for a couple hours before Gavin did something that would get himself fired. “Go find out why fourth and fifth have gone out in the Ford in Bay Six.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He tossed the tablet back at the android who caught it deftly. “And don’t call me ‘Mr. Reed’, just Gavin.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He also responds to ‘asshole’ and ‘shithead’,” came Tina’s muffled voice. Gavin casually flipped her the bird. even if she couldn’t see it, it was the thought that counted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The android hesitated a moment. “You didn’t ask, but you can call me Nines.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, that’s a relief, ‘cause there was no way in shit I was gonna call ‘ar-kay-nine-hundred’ every time I needed you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, one syllable words are much easier for him,” came Tina’s voice again. He kicked at her ankle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After the android finally walked away, he kicked at Tina again. “Come have beers after work. I can already tell I’m going to need it.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>----------------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Grifty’s Bar was just down the street from the shop, and was the kind of dive where you really could go directly after work--stained coveralls and all--and not get a second glance. Every surface was a little bit sticky, the lighting was horrible, and there was a generous layer of dust on the weird knick knacks nailed to the walls. Gavin loved it, as did most of the mechanics from Fowler’s Automotive and Repair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tina, her wife Valerie, and Chris were already there when Gavin walked in. Good, a small group of the few people he could tolerate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So I hear you almost got fired today,” Valerie was saying.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin rolled his eyes at Tina. “Don’t you have more interesting things to gossip with your girlfriend about? I came here to get away from work.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chris was just as bad, though, grinning like a shitbird. “You looked like a kid coming out of the principles office this morning.” He was truly outnumbered, wasn’t he.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, remind me, why do you hate Connor so much?” Valerie asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He scowled and waved a hand dismissively. “I don’t hate him, he’s just an asshole.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s really not, he’s just a little annoying,” Chris interjected. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tina added: “He made a joke about Gavin’s dad once, last year, before he even became a deviant, and Gavin can’t let it drop.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My dad was an asshole, too, why should I care if some prick makes fun of him?” Gavin took a long pull of beer, avoiding all of the eyes that were suddenly on him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because you’re the queen of grudges?” Tina said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He dipped a finger in his beer and flicked it at her. She held up a hand to deflect the droplets and flipped him off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe we just need to get you laid,” She said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He snorted. “Yeah, because the last time you two tried to set me up went so well.” He took a long pull of beer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, this I gotta hear,” Chris said, propping his head on his hands in an exaggerated listening pose. Fuck, why couldn’t Gavin learn to keep his mouth shut?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh god, remember the one, Lucy, I think? Who took you cafe-hopping downtown and you spent like $400 on fancy espresso in one day?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin wanted to ignore her, but instead his treacherous mouth opened and he found himself correcting her. “No, you’re thinking of Ben. Lucy was the one who left mid-make-out session because she said she couldn’t stand the “smell of cars” in my hair one second longer.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ooo, ouch,” Valerie said sympathetically. “Well, if it makes you feel better, I hear through my own office gossip that Ben still pines for you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bullshit. All Ben pines for is someone else buying his Italian doppios for him.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Both women and Chris laughed at that, and finally changed the subject, thank god. Gavin went to the bar for another beer. If there was one thing he didn’t need to dwell on, it was his failed love life. </span>
  <span>But it turned out he wasn’t safe at all, because when he turned back around to head back to the table, the RK900--Nines--had appeared as if from thin air and was sitting and chatting with Tina as if they were old friends. He froze for a second, then scowled and headed over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who invited the toaster?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I did,” Tina said, with an innocent smile. The little instigator, was she trying to get him fired?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I heard this is an android-friendly place. I thought I’d give it a try.” Nines said, smiling at him with those disturbing pale eyes that seemed to be trying to bore a hole through Gavin’s skull every time they turned his way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He thought for a second about leaving, but damned if Tina’s meddling or this tin can were going to chase him out of his favorite bar. He grunted, sat down, and downed half his pint in one go. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, if you want to pick up android chicks, this isn’t a bad place,” he said, gesturing to a group of femme-looking androids standing together by the bar. Unexpectedly, the toaster’s LED swirled yellow for just a second and a slight frown creased that too-perfect brow. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oho</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Gavin thought, </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally broke through</span>
  </em>
  <span>.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have absolutely zero interest in ‘picking up chicks’, but thanks for the useless tip.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Useless tips are Gavin’s forte,” Tina said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines nodded serenely. “Consider me warned.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin flipped off both of them. Tina never teamed up against Gavin unless she liked the other person. She’d certainly never done that with Connor or any other androids from the shop who occasionally hung out after work, why was she doing it with this one?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So the tin can had a sense of humor, so what?</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>---------------------</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Nines was already standing at his tool box when Gavin arrived the next morning.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good morning Gavin,” he said, so impeccably polite Gavin immediately assumed he was up to something. God, these ice buckets were so hard to read.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re here early, tryin’ to make me look bad?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m here exactly on time, if anyone is making you look bad, it’s you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin was onto his deadpan shit now, though, so if the toaster was looking to rile him up this morning, he would be disappointed. “Fuck off,” Gavin told him, but it was in his own polite-for-him voice. “Pull up the job list while I get coffee.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I already got you some,” Nines replied and put a mug of hot coffee fresh from the break room into Gavin’s hands. “Three creams, one sugar, right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked at the cup in his hand with surprise and suspicion and took a cautious sip. It was just how he liked it, didn’t taste anything else in it, either. By this point in his automotive career, he was well acquainted with what laxatives tasted like in food. He scowled. “What is this? You trying to butter me up?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just trying to be helpful. I feel like we got off on the wrong foot yesterday.” Nines handed Gavin his tablet and gestured, indicating Gavin should hurry up and login. He did, still suspicious, and Nines flicked over a list, already with some notes attached.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He stared at the android with narrowed eyes for another moment before taking another sip of coffee and focusing on the list in front of him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why don’t you start with the International in bay seven.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He watched the android out of the corner of his eye for the next fifteen minutes, but couldn’t find anything suspicious with his attitude or his work ethic. He had even slowed his pace a bit from yesterday, per Gavin’s advice. By god, could it be he really was just friendly and attentive?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin didn’t know how to handle ‘friendly and attentive’. He was still mulling over this strange problem when Nines came up to him a few minutes later, looking puzzled. “Do you have a moment?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin found himself skipping over the obvious sarcastic answers and simply saying, “sure.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not getting any error codes at all, but it’s definitely not running at optimal.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin flipped through the list of ailments the truck’s owner had complained about. “Ah, what about the EGR cooler, did you look inside? It can get clogged with soot.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s no code for the cooler.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Duh, this thing’s ancient, there’s no sensor in there, you have to look with your eyeballs. It’s alongside the header.” Gavin paused a beat. I mean, why not. “I’ll show you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin climbed up the ladder while Nines stood on the truck’s tire to see into the engine. “See, right there, go grab the air wrench--” But Nines already had it ready, because of course he did. “--yeah, and take off all those hoses and the bolts--” a few minutes of work with the wrench and Gavin yanked at the loosened EGR cooler, but it was heavy and awkward and he couldn’t quite get it out with one try. Nines reached past him and plucked it out of the engine like it weighed as much as a soda can. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Well. Aren’t we strong</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Gavin thought, trying hard to be impressed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He hopped down to the floor and showed Nines how to disassemble it. “See? Completely clogged, it’ll need to be replaced.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks,” Nines said. Then he hesitated a fraction of a second and added, “wasn’t so hard to be nice for five minutes, was it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin stared at him a second, then burst out laughing. “Fuck you, you cheeky toaster.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The rhythm of the work day went surprisingly well after that. Connor and Hank stayed at their end of the shop, as promised, which was pretty easy since they were out on tow calls most of the time. Connor should have never been assigned to work under Gavin in the first place. The last two months had been hell on both of them, that was clear now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines, on the other hand, wasn’t a whiny-ass, wasn’t overly chatty, he worked hard and paid attention. He also didn’t start shit, but seemed able to give as well as he got. All of which Gavin appreciated. He was still sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop--for the toaster to poison his coffee, or sabotage a client’s vehicle and blame it on him--something had to be going on behind that peaceful facade.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the end of the week, he had to grudgingly admit, just to himself, of course, that he might actually like working with the guy.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>----------- Nines-------------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite their working relationship going 60% more smoothly than originally predicted, Nines was still surprised when Gavin brought him along on his next farm call. Could it be a sign that the man was taking Nines’ interest in farm equipment seriously? For the most part, Gavin seemed incapable of sincerity of any kind, even with Tina, who by all accounts was his best friend. Constant machismo, joking, and deflections were certainly not rare traits to find around a mechanic shop, but Gavin had it down to an art.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Today, however, he was in a rare mood: window rolled down and arm slung out the window of the mobile rig, and actually humming along to the radio.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines had been quietly running simulations since they’d started driving, and found the probability of small talk going well was much higher than usual.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is it really less expensive to pay for a farm call than to try to take the tractor into the shop?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Despite favorable models, when Gavin calmly answered the question in a tone that was not only normal, but almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>friendly</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Nines was so pleasantly shocked that a software instability alert flashed across his overlay for a moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yep, no affordable way to transport it. The cost of renting a trailer or something to haul it would be more than our travel fee. And In the case of this client, she’s friends with Hank and Connor, so she gets a discount.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then why aren’t they on this call?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“‘Cause neither of them know shit about old-school tractors,” he said with a smug grin. “And I do mean old-school. Wait ‘til you see this thing, it belongs in a museum.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines stayed quiet for a while, processing the conversation. He was surprised yet again when Gavin spoke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let me ask </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> something. What is a battle droid doing repairing farm equipment for a living? You could be making three times as much doing defense work or something.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A personal question? This was unexpected. “The short answer is that kind of work doesn’t appeal to me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin scoffed. “But you wouldn’t even have to train or anything, you’ve already got the software and the, you know, hardware.” He made a vague hand gesture that encompassed all of Nines’ body. Gavin’s regard gave Nines the oddest sensation. He took one second to process and came up with forty-six possible responses to Gavin’s comment, in descending order. Toward the bottom of the list, at a 3% likelihood of response: positive, was the option “So you’ve been checking out my hardware?” Curious. Sexual innuendos didn’t occur to Nines very often, and usually only with people he already considered friends. He picked something much further up the list.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’d rather do work that’s meaningful to me but doesn’t pay well than the inverse. I’m sure you understand, there are probably a myriad of jobs you could perform that would pay more than what you’re making now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin snorted. “You have a higher opinion of me than any of my parole officers ever did. How come you still wear that uniform, then? I thought androids hated them.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines glanced down and traced an idle finger across the model number on his breast. “I don’t mind it. I wasn’t awakened until after the revolution, so I don’t have any unpleasant memories associated with our uniforms. Plus, I get them for free since everyone is giving them away, and I don’t mind getting them dirty. I figured that makes them ideal shop-wear.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah well, it’s like a flashing neon sign.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not ashamed of who I am.”</span>
  <span><br/>
<br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, cool your jets,” Gavin said, sounding exasperated. “You wear your toaster pride all you want, I’m just saying you walk into the wrong neighborhood in that thing, you’re gonna get jumped. Ain’t about shame, it’s about discretion. There are still places in Detroit where I’d get my ass beat just for having visible piercings, and I’m a somewhat-tough-looking human.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines was silent for a moment. “I do have other clothes, if that’s what you’re asking. I wear them when I’m with friends.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin snorted. “You have friends?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You think you’re tough-looking?” Nines shot back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin laughed. “Fuck you, tin can.” But his tone was still friendly, one might even venture to call it ‘warm’. Definitely a day of firsts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They pulled up to Rose’s Farm. It was obvious where the problem was since the farm wasn’t that large. The tractor sat dead in the middle of a half-plowed field about a hundred meters away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A black woman in a dirt-caked flannel shirt came jogging up the moment she saw them. Nines realized who it was and tried to keep from staring. She stuck out her hand and introduced herself to him and he shook it mutely, as if he didn’t know exactly who she was. Rose Chapman. Famous in android circles for her coyote work before and during the revolution. A software instability alert flashed on his overlay. He took two seconds to process his emotion and realized he was a little… star struck. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Dial that shit back</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he thought to himself, borrowing a line Gavin liked to use.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Glad you got here so fast. We’re already late getting these pumpkins in the ground.” She gestured to the greenhouse in the distance. Nines zoomed in and saw pallets of small potted plants were half-unloaded near the doorway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Late May would have been a more ideal time to plant those,” he said. Then, realizing that that wasn’t very helpful, added in a rush, “perhaps if we finish our work with the tractor quickly, I could help you get caught up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Appreciate the offer, but pumpkin starts are kind of delicate.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have some horticulture training. I volunteer at one of the urban farming collectives and I’ve successfully transplanted cucumbers, which are similar to pumpkins.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rose smiled. “Well, in that case, if you have the time you’re welcome to help.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Belatedly, he glanced over at Gavin, who was watching the conversation with a sort of bemused expression, lips quirked in a half smile. Nines wondered if he’d been babbling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Against union rules,” Gavin said, but waggled his eyebrows, obviously teasing. If anyone in the shop knew about violating rules, it would be Gavin. “Besides, let’s see if we can actually get this antique running first.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t you badmouth old Alice, she’s vintage, not antique yet. Just like me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So what’s wrong with her?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The rear axle’s busted, just need you to fix it enough to move it out of the field. Bob down the road is going to loan us his tractor for the day, but we need poor Alice to get out of the way.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re in serious luck, then, because I happen to have brought along a walking, talking tractor jack today,” Gavin clapped Nines on the shoulder, causing yet another software instability alert. “He’ll make this four hour job into a forty-five minute one.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin backed the truck up to the tractor and set up the welder. Nines held up the rear end so Gavin could make the patch, “I don’t think this is OSHA approved.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, I trust you more than an actual jack,” Gavin replied, and then crawled underneath the tractor without a hint of nervousness or distrust. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines watched Gavin work and made notes to review the memories of this whole outing to try to understand what was going on with him. Was the fresh air? The nice weather? Did he sleep especially well last night? Nines had picked up from Tina that Gavin had chronic insomnia which could explain a large part of the usual chip on his shoulder. Was it taking a drive in the middle of a work day?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hard to picture an android who has a green thumb,” Gavin said at one point as he inspected one of his welds and waited for it to cool.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I like growing things. It’s why I want to specialize in diesel engines, for exactly these situations.” He indicated the small farm that they sat in. “It seems the smaller the farm, the more likely they are to use old machinery.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You thinking of going freelance eventually?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Probably. I’m still weighing all my options. That’s why I sometimes do volunteer work on the weekends, to see what the possibilities are.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin grunted in a noncommittal way, and then surprised Nines yet again by saying, “I looked up some of the urban farm stuff. Looks interesting. I didn’t realize some of the vegetables I buy at the store are grown in Detroit city limits.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m shocked you eat vegetables. My data suggest your diet consists of one hundred percent fried carbs or meat,” Nines said, and was rewarded by the appearance of a friendly middle finger stuck out from under the tractor.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Less than an hour later, Rose’s son Adam helped them limp Alice out of the field and Rose approached Nines.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, there’s still plenty of daylight,” she said. “Your offer still stand?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines looked at Gavin and raised his brows in a question. Gavin shrugged. “Fowler doesn't need to know. I’m in no hurry to get back to the shop anyway.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And that’s how Nines ended up spending three hours planting pumpkin seedlings alongside Gavin. Well, Gavin refused to touch the plants, but he helped bring pallets to and from the greenhouse while Adam finished plowing the rows and Rose and Nines planted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rose sent them on their way with a bag of farm goodies: Jar of honey and raspberry jam for Gavin, and a cluster of tiny straw-sized samples of different types of honey for Nines. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He took another risk on the drive home. “Did you know that I’m the one who requested to work with you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hah! No, I thought that was all Fowler. Why?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines eyed him. “Partially because of your experience, but also I wanted to learn more about the type of people who hate androids.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin was silent for a long moment. “I don’t hate androids, OK?” He said, keeping his eyes on the road. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines nodded. “I know that now. I observed that your tendency is to treat the other androids in the shop no differently from the humans. It’s just Connor and... me... you seem to actively despise.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin cast him a quick look, and it was more open and honest than any expression Nines had yet seen on his face. He looked actually, upset? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit, I don’t hate you, man, the opposite in fact. You’re one of the most tolerable people in the whole shop. You just happened to be in the crossfire when I was having a bad day, and I kept things rolling from there because that’s what I do.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines smiled. “‘Tolerable’? Such flattery. For what it’s worth, I also find you quite tolerable to work with.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Enjoy that feeling while it lasts, no one can stand me for too long.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>----------------</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next farm call a week later wasn’t nearly as pleasant, and the names Gavin used in reference to a different tractor were neither nice nor affectionate. And yet, Gavin’s good mood before and after the job was similar, even after they both ended up lying on the ground in a mud-manure mixture for several hours.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines even felt comfortable asking at the end of the job, “Do you mind if we stop by my apartment so I can change?” Gavin had changed into a spare jumpsuit, and had scrounged an old blanket for Nines to sit on on the drive back to the shop, but the mud had soaked through his clothes and squelched unpleasantly against his skin. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rookie mistake, not having extra clothes with you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I suppose I should have guessed what ‘farm call’ might mean; but no one warned me it would entail quite this much animal excrement.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well that's what you get for hanging out with me. I'm a shit magnet.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they pulled up to the industrial district in front of the rusted sign reading, "Pablo’s Storage", Nines glanced at Gavin to gauge his reaction.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Storage units, huh? Yeah, been there.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines started to get out of the truck, and paused, processing a thought. They’d been on very friendly terms at work this past week, perhaps... “Would you like a tour? See how the other half lives?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin snorted. “‘The other half’ my ass. It'd have to be pretty bad to compare to some of the shitholes I’ve crashed at in my life.” He got out of the car as he said this, clearly accepting the invitation. And just like that, any budding embarrassment Nines felt about his living situation disappeared. How was Gavin able to do that? Somehow, when he felt like it, anyway, his crude language and rough manner eased tensions instead of inflaming them. Granted, he seemed to prefer to antagonize people, but Nines had observed him use the method around the shop to diffuse fights between other mechanics better than a trained diplomat. Nines wasn’t even sure Gavin was aware of what he was doing, it seemed to be instinct. It was fascinating.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines lead the way to the second floor and down a long windowless hallway. A few residents had their roll up doors open and he nodded in greeting to each of them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't mind their stares, we don’t get many humans coming in here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Very ‘refugee chic’ around here,” Gavin said. His tone was thoughtful, not judging. “Your landlord’s a peach.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The building is owned by an android collective, actually, so there is no landlord. We try to stay low-key to avoid attracting attention.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, like a shittier version of New Jericho.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This isn’t really meant to be long-term housing and some androids have reasons they don’t want to live in New Jericho.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines unlocked and rolled up his own corrugated door and presented the view with an exaggerated flourish. He knew that his space looked tiny to human eyes: Fifteen by ten. No chair, no bed, no window, just a set of shelves filled with his few possessions, a computer interface hanging off the wall, a few decorations on the wall, and a charge port.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin glanced around and nodded. “I’ve slept in ones smaller than this. At least this one doesn’t smell like piss and mildew. I win.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A small laugh escaped Nines. “I didn’t know we were having a contest. Plus, my understanding from what Tina has said, the house you have now is pretty neat. A little rough around the edges, but has ‘good bones’.” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Kind of like you,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Nines thought to himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Easy for you to say. I’ve been working on it for years and there’s still a million small things to do. Not to mention my project cars that I never seem to have time to work on. Sometimes I think it would be better to torch the thing for insurance.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have some experience in basic home repair, and of course vehicles. I could always come over and lend a hand.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, right, come over Saturday.” Gavin said this in an odd tone of voice, like he was trying to be sarcastic but a tiny dose of sincerity slipped by. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines couldn’t read his expression, but decided to answer with sincerity of his own. “Certainly.” He then quickly reached past him to grab a stack of clothes off the shelf and spoke again before Gavin had to come up with a polite -- or more likely, impolite--way to refuse or deflect. “Do you mind?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure, sure.” Gavin hastily retreated to the hallway while Nines changed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines wasted a lot of processing power that afternoon fretting about the half-invitation. It was somewhere between a 40%-80% chance it had been a joke, which was a ridiculous margin of error for something that should be straight forward. It was slightly out of character for Gavin, but Nines had observed many of the other humans in the shop visiting each other outside of work hours all the time, including to help each other with repair projects. Why was this interaction so fraught?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After they had returned to the shop, it was business as usual for Gavin--meaning he went back to being a wise-cracking asshole--and neither of them had brought it up again. Nines was perfectly fine to let it drop but as Gavin was walking out the shop door that Friday, at the end of shift, he looked back at Nines and called casually over his shoulder, "If you’re coming over tomorrow, don’t show up before ten, I need my beauty rest". Nines was shocked enough that the familiar red alert flashed up in his overlay.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>-----------------</b>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin’s house was in an old neighborhood in Warren not far from the shop, and since the closest bus stop was several blocks away, Nines had ample walking time to take it in. Most of the houses looked run-down, a few were still boarded up, but there were signs that the Housing Revival Act was working: Fresh paint here and there, new fences, a dumpster parked on the street in the process of being filled. Gavin’s was easy to spot by having no fewer than four vehicles in the driveway, all in various states of repair or assemblage.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin was already in the front yard when he arrived, standing in the driveway in a sleeveless t-shirt that showed off his well-muscled arms. Interesting, he thought as a software instability alert flashed by, Gavin worked around the shop in his tank top often, why did the sight of him now catch Nines’ attention? Could it be because they weren’t at work, and were actually at his house in a more personal setting? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He turned and grinned as Nines approached. “Hey, you actually showed up, and in civvy clothes, no less. I almost didn’t recognize you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines glanced down at his plain black tee-shirt and jeans (an outfit which had taken way too long and too much processing power to choose) and realized that the two of them almost matched. He wondered if Gavin would notice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had pulled the tarps off the project cars and waved at them. “I was just thinking about which one needs the most help. What do you think?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Which one are you most excited to actually drive?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The Chevy, I guess. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines stepped closer and assessed the equipment and parts strewn over the sun-warmed concrete. “Swapping out a transmission? Ah, I see why you invited me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Damn straight. What’s the point of having an android friend if you can’t use them for manual labor once in a while?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines made immediate note of that word. He filed that memory away for later analysis.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Removing the old transmission took them into the heat of a midday in early summer. Gavin was sweating profusely and Nines had to remind him several times to hydrate with water instead of beer, advice which he acted annoyed about, but miraculously actually followed, even returning from the house with a packet of chilled blue juice for Nines. Nines was willing to bet money that that was an item Gavin Reed had never kept stocked in his house until very recently, but he didn’t say anything.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines not only did the heavy lifting, but offered to do the welding portion later that afternoon so Gavin could rest in the shade of the open garage for a few minutes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been meaning to ask, how come I’ve never seen your model type before? Seems like there are AP700’s and PL600’s all over the place.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m a prototype. Meant for police and military use.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like Connor?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines nodded, realized Gavin couldn’t see him from where he was sitting, and said, “Yes. Connor’s the one who got me the job at the shop, actually. He’s the only one who seemed to understand my reluctance to go into the military or police forces.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why is that? I thought it was pretty normal for androids to try new things after they were freed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not in the circles I ran in in those early months after my awakening. For whatever reason, a large percentage of those unboxed at the same time as me did end up going into those kinds of jobs.” He hesitated, wondering how much he was ready to reveal to Gavin. He decided to go for it. “The RK I dated when I was in New Jericho was especially enthusiastic about military service.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hold up, you dated another RK unit? Isn’t that, like, incest?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Or not, Nines thought, frowning up at the truck bed. Should he bother explaining? “Since neither my programing nor my deviation involve a sex drive, and since we aren’t actually siblings, no, that isn’t accurate.” He let a touch of anger show in his voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever man, no judgement. Dating literally the first person you ever meet seems totally normal and healthy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The weak joke (a Gavin Reed specialty) worked. Nines rolled his eyes and felt his melancholy and irritation lift. “You’re being facetious, but you’re not wrong, it was not the healthiest relationship ever. There was a hard edge to him I couldn't seem to touch. I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian at the time, and he mocked me for that. Said it was a waste of my talents. I moved out of new Jericho not long after.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good for you. Fuck that guy.” That made Nines lips twitch into another little smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He laid under the truck and held the transmission up while Gavin climbed into the cab and put the first bolts in, then crawled underneath with him to put in the remaining bolts. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Will you bolt in the third member? I definitely can’t lift that myself either.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines went back under the truck and spent the next eleven seconds trying to formulate a joke about “touching Gavin’s member” that threaded the needle between clever and raunchy yet appropriate for two friends(?), but, though he’d been studying the humans in the shop for months now, raunchy humor still didn’t come naturally. Especially around Gavin, for some reason. He let it drop and worked silently instead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shadows were creeping across their work space by the time Gavin announced it was time for a test drive. He hopped in and impatiently beckoned Nines to join him. He took it around the block and then rolled into a vacant lot a few blocks away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ready?” He said, but before Nines could answer, he slammed it into gear and proceeded to screech around the lot in a series of cookies, whooping and laughing the whole time. A dozen alerts popped up on Nines’ overlay, but he dismissed them all. The danger was worth the thrill, and the addition of seeing Gavin so joyous added to the effect.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were both still grinning as they pulled back into Gavin’s driveway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You better come in and wash up, they’ll never let you on the bus looking like that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines tried not to be too nosy, but he couldn’t help from looking around at the house curiously as he washed up in the kitchen sink. A large orange tabby cat sat and watched him from the window sill and then as soon as his hands were dry, walked across the counter and rubbed against his elbow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now, this doesn’t seem sanitary,” he told the cat and gently put it on the floor before petting it. The cat, a male, and a former fighter judging by his torn up ears, rubbed happily against his knuckles. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin overheard, and called out from the bathroom where he was washing his own hands. “Have you seen my house? Nothing around here is sanitary.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I find historic buildings interesting. What is that discolored patch in the ceiling, there?”.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin came out of the bathroom, a look on his face that was suspiciously like pride. “That’s formerly a giant hole I patched in the roof the first year I squatted here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I thought you owned this house?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I do now. Didn’t Tina or Valerie tell you that story? It’s how they met. Tina was helping me find a lawyer that would do my adverse possession paperwork. She talked to every law clerk in downtown until she found one that would take my case pro bono. I ended up with a house, she ended up with a girlfriend. A twofer, though I think she got the better of the two deals.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She seems like a good friend.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s one of the few people who will put up with me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmm. Maybe she’s just one of the few who sees through you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah right. At the risk of seeming like a nice guy, I guess I better drive you home. Your clothes are still so dirty they probably won’t even let you on the bus.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>------Gavin---------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey tin can,” Gavin said cheerfully and kicked Nines’ leg as he walked by. It was a couple week later, and Gavin was in a particularly good mood. Nines poked his head out from under the Nikola he was working on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You do realize I was trained for combat, yes? One of these days you may startle me into going krav maga on you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Empty promises. Hey, I got a question. You free this Saturday?” Why did Gavin feel the need to act extra casual right now? This wasn’t a big deal, asking a friend over again to help with projects, right? It wasn’t weird to do that two weekends in the same month, right? So why did he feel nervous?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No. Why?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s gonna be hot all week, and humid as a hippopotamus taint, help me put in my AC units.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmm, I think my audio processor is malfunctioning. That sounded almost like you were asking for a favor, and yet I couldn’t detect a ‘please’.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a testament to how much he appreciated the android’s work ethic that he let him get away with saying shit like that now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please, dickhead, please help me put in my AC units. Please. There, that’s three pleases. I almost killed myself last year getting the one in my upstairs window. What if I died before passing on all my mechanical wisdom to you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The world would truly suffer from such a loss. Alright, I’ll be there at eight. No beauty rest for you this time, we need to get an early start so we’re not working in the hottest part of the day.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>God, why did Gavin suddenly get a flutter in his stomach? Probably an ulcer from this cheap break room coffee.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>--------------------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Nines helped him drag the window AC units out of the garage and install them in various windows. A task he’d been dreading, but with a second person--especially one as strong as Nines--it was a breeze (har har). </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Have you considered upgrading the HVAC system?” Nines asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve considered a lot of things,” Gavin grunted as he adjusted the spacers in the window. “Mechanic wages sort of limit my options.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Installing it yourself, with some help of course, would vastly cut down the cost. I could probably help locate a used unit as well.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin grunted. “Why did you care, anyway? You don’t even feel the heat.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not completely true. My systems run optimally within a fairly narrow temperature and humidity gradient, just like yours. Anything outside that causes discomfort. Although, I can control my body temperature somewhere, see?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines held out his hand, and Gavin grabbed it without thinking. It felt blessedly cool in his own sweaty hand. “Nice.” He realized he’d held on for a couple seconds longer than necessary and quickly let go.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If Nines felt as awkward as Gavin, he didn’t show it. He looked down at the back yard. “You could fit a lot of vegetable beds here,” he commented.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I already told you, these hands may be decent at fixing machines but they kill living things.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The cat seems to be doing well.” Nines nodded to tabby, who’d been lazily following them around the house watching them work all day.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bastard is the exception to many rules.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If one can feed a cat, one can water a garden. If you’re ever interested in growing something other than weeds, I’d be happy to get you started.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Why did he keep harping on about it? “Not much point, with you leaving the shop in a year or so anyway, right? Off to some hippie commune or whatever. It’d all just die again.” Why did that come out sounding so bitter? That goddamn flutter was back in his stomach, but it was making him feel almost sick. This damn heat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He rushed through the rest of the installation and turned on the unit full blast just to have some sound fill the room so the conversation could end. Nines insisted on carrying on, though, because androids just never knew when to shut up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t have any plans this weekend, and there’s still some things I could help you with. Would you like me to return tomorrow?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin stared at him a moment too long. “Nah, um, I got some stuff I got to do tomorrow. Thanks man.” and then he ushered him to the door in a rush.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As soon as he was out of sight, Gavin grabbed an entire pack of cigarettes and went to the back porch. He was trying to cut back, but he could tell tonight would require a little chain smoking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He never spent a lot of time back there; the eves were rotting and could fall any moment, and the backyard was nothing to look at, just tall weeds that he never bothered to cut and some half-hidden trash from whoever had owned the place before him. Uninspiring, and he’d never put much thought into it before. So why was he suddenly imagining what it would look like with some raised beds? Maybe a gravel path in between, a fixed up fence…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Stop that. There was no point to thoughts like that. He didn’t know jack shit about gardening, and the one person he knew who did wouldn’t be sticking around. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He sucked on his cigarette in the hot, oppressively damp air, listening to the loud whine of his newly-installed AC units, and wondered why that thought made him feel so miserable.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>--------------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The next week at work was… weird. Gavin tried not to make it weird, and most of the time was pretty successful, but everything felt off. Or rather, the nice groove that he’d been in for the last couple months had disappeared and he was back in the familiar territory of hating everything. He wasn’t sleeping well, even for him, and found himself zoning out at work. And during most of those zone outs, his thoughts kept circling back to the two Saturdays spent with Nines at his house. And how they were the best times he’d had in fucking years. And how he couldn’t wait to spend time with him again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was during his fifth smoke break of the day on Wednesday before he finally let the niggling thought that’d been plaguing him for weeks drift to the surface--he had a major crush on his co-worker. Fine, whatever. He’d had crushes before, so what if it was on someone who’d made it plain he wasn’t interested in dating anyone? That made things simpler, didn’t it? He didn’t have a chance with him, anyway. So what if he wouldn’t be around for long? The sooner he finished his training and got out of here, the better. He just needed to keep that shit tamped down until then. Stay chill, Gavin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines had by this time become a regular at Grifty’s. But this Thursday felt different, obviously. Gavin was planning to avoid the place, but Tina asked for a ride over and she would have known something was up if he refused. When Gavin and Tina arrived, Nines was already there. Something about the sight of him, sitting in his usual spot, the way he turned his head and smiled when he caught sight of them, hit Gavin in the center of his chest with a bright burning ball of adrenaline.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The fuck is this. You just saw him twenty minutes ago, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought. And: </span>
  <em>
    <span>I am fucked, aren’t I?</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Valerie and Tina went to get drinks while Gavin sat down next to Nines. Real chill, real casual. Totally keeping it tamped down, like he promised himself. Not at all staring at him out of the corner of his eye. Nines was watching Tina and Val, laughing and holding hands and practically making out at the bar while they waited for their order.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kind of sickeningly isn’t it? I swear I get cavities every time I’m around them.” Gavin said, just to have something to say.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmm, you wouldn’t be a little jealous, would you?” Nines teased.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh shit, is this where this conversation is going</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “Jealous? I could take home any mother fucker in this bar if I tried. It’s just not worth the effort.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not sure that a one-night stand counts as quite the same thing as… that.” Nines nodded towards the women.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, well some people just aren’t built for … “that”.” Again, he meant to keep his tone light, but the words came out sounding almost sad. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Shit balls, Reed, hold it together,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thought. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tina and Valerie </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally</span>
  </em>
  <span> reappeared with drinks and Gavin took the opportunity to slip outside for a smoke and to clear his head. Why did Nines have to be so intense all the time? Five minutes hanging out with the guy had Gavin thinking the types of heavy thoughts he tried to avoid at all times, but especially after a long day at work. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At least Tina was in a good mood, he could see her through the window chatting animatedly and occasionally throwing her head back in a laugh. Nines smiled at something Valerie said, and Gavin suddenly felt a wave of some emotion sweep over him, so strong it made his throat go all hot and tight. What the hell was wrong with him? It felt like homesickness, a tugging in the center of his chest, but with no destination in mind, it just left him feeling adrift and very, very alone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He lit a second cigarette, sucking on it until the tightness in his throat eased. Yep, there were only two choices here: get out of here now, like a coward, or get shit-faced, like, well, a coward, but a coward who could at least go sit next to Nines and look him in the eye for five minutes.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>---------Nines----------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Something was definitely off about Gavin this evening. Usually when he came back from a smoke break, the fresh infusion of nicotine would have improved his mood, but this time he had a distinctively pensive look on his face, and instead of returning to their table, he went straight to the bar, ordered three shots of some dark liquid and downed them in quick succession right at the bar before coming back over to the group. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin seemed to perk up after a while, but he kept a steady stream of beer coming. This was the most alcohol Nines had ever seen him consume in a single evening, and it was mildly concerning.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tina seemed to agree, and as the night naturally wound to a close, and she and Valerie were getting ready to leave, she asked Nines to drive Gavin home.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Does his car not have a self-driving mode?” Nines asked. Tina just laughed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>“Don’t trus’ those things.” Gavin proclaimed, waving his hand dismissively.</span> <span>“‘S’fine, I’ll jus’ sleep in the car. Wouldn’t be the first time.”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rolling his eyes in disbelief, Nines gave a nod to Tina and Valerie and followed Gavin out of the bar. His steps got wobblier and more erratic, until Nines finally slipped an arm around his waist to steady him. He told himself, as he dismissed the software instability alerts, that the thrill of being able to hold Gavin like this was merely academic; he hadn’t had much physical contact with humans, after all. It was especially interesting when the man put his own arm around Nines, gripping his jacket unselfconsciously. He’s just drunk, Nines reminded himself, and half-asleep at this point, he doesn’t know what he’s doing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they reached the car, Nines dumped him in the passenger seat and got into the driver’s side. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey man, you don’ have to,” Gavin protested weakly, but Nines ignored him. He didn’t say anything the rest of the drive, and his eyes were closed, but his heart rate and breathing were irregular. He couldn’t tell without scanning him if he was asleep or not.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wha’ ‘bout you?” Gavin asked as Nines helped steady him on the walk to the door. “Di’n’t the bus stop runnin’ at ten?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be fine, I’ll call an android Uber.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nooooo, you sho’ stay here, man.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A software instability alert popped up on his overlay. He couldn’t choose an appropriate response, and didn’t think Gavin would remember anyway, so he didn’t say anything as he helped Gavin find his key and half-carried him to his couch. He could have easily scooped the man up and carried him to his bed, but every single projection of that particular action was riddled with ‘social unacceptability’ warnings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bastard trotted up to see what the commotion was, and Nines gave the cat some chin scritches while he did a quick search on the web for what humans did after so much drinking. Information gleaned, he stood up and rummaged in Gavin’s cupboards until he found a handful of aspirin and he put a glass of water in his hand and made him drink it before he collapsed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yer a good guy, Nines,” he said as he closed his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The warmth in his chest at that comment was definitely not academic. And Nines knew he definitely had a problem.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>----------Gavin------------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin’s alarm didn’t wake him up, but Bastard’s meowing and jumping onto his stomach did. He groaned and rolled off the couch and dug around in the cupboards for coffee. He usually didn’t bother making it at home on a weekday (it was a weekday, right?) but this morning it would be necessary to get out the door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had managed to drink his way out of his funk last night and actually have a good time. So why the fuck did he wake up so goddamn lonely and disappointed?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You know why, you sentimental buffoon</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His headache was not nearly as bad as he expected… because Nines had given him water and aspirin last night; he’d slept on his own couch instead of in the car… because Nines had driven him home. Because Nines had </span>
  <em>
    <span>taken care of him</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He remembered it all very well because… He had not been that drunk. Drunk enough that he shouldn’t drive, yes. But had he maybe played up his unsteadiness so that a certain friend would have an excuse to wrap arms around him for a few minutes? Maybe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wandered around the house, slamming cupboard doors and cursed and kicked the toilet when it was slow flushing again--that thing would need to be replaced soon. Why was everything in the house so old and broken down? Why couldn’t anything just work the way it was supposed to?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He got a chastising meow. Bastard was the only cat he knew who didn't run away when he was breaking things and making loud noises. Bastard actually came toward the noise. He sighed and reached down to scratch his ears, then went over and poured out some cat food.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked out the window and caught sight of the tarp-covered project cars and groaned again. It was Friday, and he’d had a half-thought to invite Nines over again to work on the cars. He’d made so much progress with his help. Nines was a fast learner, and intuitive, and thoughtful, organized; all the things Gavin wasn’t, which is probably why they worked so well together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But now, after last night, ugh, he couldn’t rely so much on someone like this, not just because Nines had done him too many favors in a row, but knowing the guy wasn’t here for long. No matter what it seemed like, he wasn’t here to make friends, he needed training from Gavin, that was it, and then he’d leave and these little outings and weekend get-togethers would end, and Gavin needed to stop imagining what it would be like if they didn’t.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He thought he was fine until he got to work, there he was, Nines was right there at the tool box when Gavin arrived, like always, with his coffee ready nearby, like always. Why the hell was Nines always so nice to him, anyway? Two months ago, he thought he was trying to grease the wheels for a promotion or special treatment or something, but that didn’t make sense if he was planning to go freelance in a year or two. Under different circumstances, he’d assume the next logical thing was he was trying to get into Gavin’s pants, but the guy didn’t even like sex, and even if he did, he didn’t seem the type to want it with a sloppy disaster like Gavin. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He felt his face get hot as a thought flashed across his hungover, sleep-deprived brain: if Nines had taken advantage last night--not that he was the type who would do something like that, but if--Gavin wouldn’t have resisted. Quite the opposite.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin cursed, spun on his heel, and ducked into the locker room for a few minutes to compose himself. Time to shove that shit waaaay down. By the time he came out, he thought his voice sounded admirably normal. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, thanks for getting my drunk ass home last night. Let me pay you back for your Uber.” He pulled out a twenty and held it out, but Nines shook his head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No need, it’s part of the housing collective, we all take turns.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Of course you fucking do, what kind of fantasy utopia world did Nines live in, anyway?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Gavin thought and continued to hold the bill towards Nines. “Well, take it for gas or something.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Really, it’s not necessary.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin let his arm drop, his next words came out harsh. “So, what, you want me to owe you a favor? Or do you feel sorry for me because of the shit hole I live in, is that it? I can pay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines’ smile disappeared and his LED turned yellow. “I don’t think you’re being very logical right now. Maybe after you’ve hydrated and had some more caffeine--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t need you acting like a mother hen, alright? I don’t need… whatever </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> is--.” He gestured vaguely at the steaming cup of coffee and the tablet in Nines’ hands. For further emphasis, he snatched up the coffee cup and took it back to the break room, dumping it down the drain and leaving the mug in the sink (two cardinal sins in a row, one of which he regretted instantly, the other he’d regret in an hour when Fowler spotted it and chewed him out), and then stomped back over to Nines, who hadn’t moved, and was staring at him incredulously, LED still yellow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t just stand there, go do a coolant flush on that Dodge,” Gavin snapped, and turned his back and pretended to look up part numbers on the tablet. He could feel the android’s eyes on him for a long moment, but then his footsteps retreated. Gavin felt like shit. There was some small relief to not having the android </span>
  <em>
    <span>looking at him like that</span>
  </em>
  <span>, though. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A while later, while Gavin was leaning over an engine pretending to work but mostly just staring into space, Tina came by and pretended to sniff the air. “Phew you smell like a brewery. Surprised you even came in today. Since when are you into thirsty Thursday, anyway?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck off, Tina,” he muttered, but his heart wasn’t in it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What did Nines do? He looks like a kicked puppy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck </span>
  <em>
    <span>OFF</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Tina,” he said with a little more force.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah, so, translating from Gavin-ese, you’re hungover on a work day, acted like a dick to the person who helped you last night, and now you kind of feel shitty, but you can’t admit it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He scowled down at the tablet in his hands. God he hated how perceptive Tina could be. “I just can’t figure out his deal.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe he doesn’t have a </span>
  <em>
    <span>deal,</span>
  </em>
  <span> dumbass. Oh, yes, it’s just so fucking awful that he gets you your coffee in the morning, how suspicious.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm and, he realized with a start, a touch of real anger. He glanced at her, all five foot three inches of her radiated disapproval and impatience, arms crossed, foot tapping.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wish any of my underlings got me coffee. Hell, I wish my girlfriend brought me coffee once in a while.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he didn’t respond right away, Tina shrugged and continued on her way to the break room. “Let the rest of us know when you’ve extracted your head from your ass, will ya?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin struggled for a few more hours to get anything done, he went from project to project around the shop (avoiding the areas where Nines or Tina were working), but couldn’t stay focused on any of them and mostly only succeeded in making more messes or breaking things. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This was dumb, why was he letting him get to him so much? So what if he was a little horny for his co-worker, androids were designed to be attractive, it wasn’t abnormal. He had to play things more cool. This would pass. Finally, with a grunt of resignation, he walked over to where Nines was working.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He spoke quickly, before he could overthink it. “Uh, hey, I was a jerk this morning. Sorry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines turned slowly to look at Gavin. “Wow,” he said simply. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin stiffened. “What?” He asked defensively.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I put the odds of you giving me a real apology today at less than 12%. You genuinely surprised me, Gavin.” His LED had turned blue, and there was a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That high, huh. My rep is really slipping around here,” Gavin replied, feeling a rush of lightheadedness for some reason. Probably the hangover. It certainly couldn’t be extreme fucking relief that Nines forgave him so easily.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Things were mercifully normal the rest of the day. Gavin still didn’t have the balls to invite Nines over that weekend, but that was fine, it was all fine. Gavin didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>need</span>
  </em>
  <span> Nines to come over to his house, after all.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>---------------------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>A week passed, and though Gavin’s groove didn’t return, he managed to keep from freaking out at work again. He was almost thinking he had shit back under control when Fowler called him and Nines to his office.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “Got an emergency call from a big dairy in the north, an entire caravan of milk transports got in a pileup with some collector drones on the way out of the processing plant. Their in-house mechanics are overwhelmed and need some backup. I want both of you to drop what you’re doing and go now. Congrats, you’re both approved for overtime for this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Great, yes, spending the whole day alone with Nines was going to be fine. Just fine.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The drive to the farm was bucolic. Trees, greenery, tall spring grass. Gavin rolled down the window and took a deep breath of the summer air, but he couldn’t get in the groove. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then, of course, Nines had to speak up. “Gavin, I’ve noticed that you’ve been 25% less chatty in the last week, and your caffeine and nicotine consumption have increased as well. Is something wrong?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin’s whole body tensed up. After several seconds of working his jaw, all he said was, “Nah, just not sleeping well again.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They came to a locked gate and Gavin punched in the temporary security code they’d been given. It was less bucolic on this side of the fence, wide expanses of packed down dirt and what green there was over-grazed pasture covered in thousands of cows and the occasional manure collector drone walking lazily along on its spider-like legs. The gravel road took them to a long line of buildings: first, covered barns where hundreds of cows clustered in the shade waiting for their turn to be milked, then in between to long rows of industrial buildings: enormous milking sheds, processing plants, and machine sheds. The wide expanse of asphalt was humming with machinery and activity, dozens more of the collector drones walking to and fro carrying hay or bags of manure, people running from building to building, and a scene of absolute chaos at the far end. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Several collector drones were splayed out in a pile of tangled wreckage, legs askew and collector bags broken all over the concrete. One milk tanker truck lay on its side in the wreckage, two more were parked off the side where they’d obviously been recently towed, and a whole line of tanker trucks backed up around the sides of the processing buildings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A group of people were clustered near one of the barns around a man in a tan suit. At first Gavin thought that’s where they were headed, but instead a foreman in coveralls jogged over to meet them before he’d fully stopped the truck. She looked sweaty and stressed and gripped her tablet with white knuckles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You the mechanics fro</span>
  <span>m Fowler’s?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yep.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin noticed that she did a double take when she saw Nines, staring at his LED for a second, then she turned back to Gavin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks for coming. Those two units by shed five.” She pointed. “They seemed to have only minor damage, but neither will drive. Our man hasn’t even had a chance to take a look. Please work as fast as you can, the CEO has been breathing down my neck as it is, if we get too far behind I’m fucked. And stay out of the way of the wreckage, our first priority is to get that clear. You have hard hats?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure,” Gavin lied. She nodded, not actually caring, already turning to go.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin parked the rig as close as he could to the two disabled tankers while still staying out of the way of the clean up crew. They were newer models, total autopilot, which was good: if there’d been a person in the turned over truck, they’d have been badly injured. How did this happen, anyway? Autopilot malfunction was pretty rare. He shrugged. Not his problem.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nines, why don’t you interface with them while I get out some gear.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin took a walk around the outside of the trucks, relieved to be working and out of sight of Nines’ sharp grey eyes. He looked for any obvious damage but it was like the foreman said; nothing exciting. They were missing some paint where they’d scraped together, but the damaged areas were hardly even dented. The impact shouldn’t have even been enough to jostle anything loose anywhere.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He made a second loop, just in case he missed something. He idly messed up the NFPA placard on the back of the tank as he went by, flipping it from zero to “flammable” because he never missed an opportunity to be a little shit--then he stopped, frowned, backed up, and looked again. Someone had placed a little sticker next to the red colored ‘2’. The little symbol, a blue circle with a red line through it, would be hidden most of the time. Why did it look familiar?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh shit.</span>
  </em>
  <span> His eyes went wide. He went to the second tanker and sure enough, there was a little sticker hidden on its placard as well. Trying to ignore the roiling worry he suddenly had in his gut, he took a good look around the property. A dozen people on foot and two manned skids were working on the wreckage. The foreman was standing and waving her arms and yelling. It was hard to tell from a distance, but Gavin had a gut feeling that there were no androids. Gavin knew first hand how strong most androids were. If Nines, or an android like him, were there, the foreman would be using their strength. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin walked back to the rig and slowly started putting all his tools back. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but... He hurried over to Nines, who was still sitting in the driver’s seat of one of the damaged tankers with his hand on the interface port in the dash. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think I’ve found the problem, and it’s quite strange,” he started to say but stopped in surprise as Gavin climbed in and leaned close to speak quietly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nines, I think we need to leave.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We might have accidentally drove into rival gang territory.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t understand.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You heard of the Blue Crusade?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines’ LED flashed yellow. “Anti-android extremists. They’ve killed dozens of us since the battle for Detroit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin nodded. “I think the owner of this dairy is one of them.” He explained about the secret symbol hidden on the tanks, and the lack of android workers on the property.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s certainly concerning, but I’m not sure it’s enough evidence to explain the stress signals I’m getting from you right now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, paying attention to bad feelings has kept me alive more than once. And right now my gut is telling me to get out of here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He waited for Nines to keep arguing, but instead he nodded slowly, for some reason he had a little smile tugging the corner of his lips. “What about the job? Fowler will be very displeased.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck the job. Let’s go.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He hopped out of the cab and scanned the yard again. Nothing much had changed. The crew was still hard at work, the cluster of people around the suit had moved to a different building, the line of tanker trucks still sat idle in the long line. A few manure collector drones had come in from the fields to dump their bags at the compost pit near the sheds. One of them was coming their way, but he made the mistake of ignoring it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All they had to do was walk the twenty meters back to the truck and--</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It all happened in seconds. The collector drone had moved in very close to them, just a few meters away. Gavin had just started to think it was acting odd when all of a sudden it charged them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines’ supernatural reaction time saved both of them. He shoved Gavin to one side and flung himself the opposite way. The drone lashed out with a steel leg, barely missing Nines. It skidded to a halt and turned toward Nines, ignoring Gavin, and charged again. Nines turned and sprinted around the side of the building, the drone chased after him. By the time he had scrambled to his feet, they’d disappeared from view.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His first instinct was to run after them, but his puny human legs couldn’t keep up with either machine, and even if he caught up, what could he do?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked over at the clean-up crew. They were still just working, acting like they didn’t even notice one of their drones had gone rogue. Which might be true: the attack had only lasted a few seconds, and was much quieter than the noise and commotion of the cleanup.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His gut was also telling him not to go to any of them for help. Instead, he jumped into his rig and turned around to slowly move toward the exit. There was a chance Nines was planning to cut through the fields behind the shed and sprint all the way home, but could he outrun the collector in an open field? What if he planned to use the long buildings as cover.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin rolled past shed five slowly, approached shed four, an identical long, windowless aluminum-sided building, and--there! Sure enough, Nines was on the roof, sliding down the side. Gavin tapped the accelerator just enough so that he caught up to Nines’ location by the time the android was hitting the ground, rolling into a landing so graceful it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>criminal</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He took a flying leap into the passenger seat and Gavin peeled out of the dairy yard, just as the collector drone came flying around the corner of the building.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It started to give chase, but they had too much of a lead. It stopped chasing the moment they passed building number one and then they were on the long, straight stretch of gravel headed out to the highway. Gavin didn’t take a full breath until they reached the gate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Will you listen to me next time, you dumbass toaster? You could’ve been killed.” Gavin started shouting the minute the automatic gate closed behind them. His heart was still pounding.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines didn’t answer. His eyes stared straight ahead, unfocused, his LED had gone gray.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nines?” He glanced one last time behind them and then stopped the truck on the side of the highway. He leaned over to shake his shoulders.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey, you alright? Nines!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines blinked rapidly. He glanced at Gavin's hands and then up into his eyes and--oops--Gavin was suddenly hyper aware of how close together they were. He quickly backed off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sorry, I should have warned you I was going idle. I was reviewing my memory of what just happened. I still can't believe it, I almost feel like I have a faulty memory. Did that drone really try to run me down?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It sure did. If you want me to be a witness for a hate crime report, just say the word.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So you also think I was targeted by someone at the dairy.” He was silent for a moment. “I notice you didn’t stop to report the incident to the foreman. Who do you think did the targeting, and do you honestly think it would do anything to report it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin sighed and didn’t answer for a minute. He pulled the rig back onto the highway. “I don’t know. It could have been anyone on the property. The foreman was the only one I saw notice that you were an android, but she didn’t give off nazi vibes, and she seemed too busy, but who knows. If we’re dealing with a rich CEO of a big company, with probably no other witnesses willing to back us up… uh, I’d say no, it’s not likely a complaint would go anywhere. But dammit, they shouldn't get away with shit like this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I appreciate the sentiment. And your insight. I will certainly never again doubt any of your ‘gut feelings’. Thank you for saving my life.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin scoffed, but he felt some heat creep into his face and that damn flutter in his stomach was back. If anything, the adrenaline letdown was making this crush worse. He was having a hard time not throwing his arms around Nines in relief that he wasn’t hurt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I need to talk to some people in New Jericho before making a decision. Markus might know what to do.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>--------Nines-------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Fowler was indeed angry about them walking off the job, but Gavin handled it well, making up a story about the foreman being an ass and threatening not to pay them for their work. Nines was once again impressed with Gavin’s creativity, and silently thankful that he was respecting Nines’ wish to keep the attack secret for now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Late that night, Nines’ eyes suddenly shot open. In the quiet dark of his apartment, he’d been analyzing data and running simulations for hours, and the conclusions he was coming to demanded a second opinion.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He went straight to Gavin’s house without even thinking. Only when he was in the driveway did it occur to him this might be a mistake. Even setting aside the man’s strange and cool behavior in the last couple weeks, it  suddenly occurred to him how late it was, how weird his request would seem, and… he still wasn’t quite sure where Gavin stood on the friendship scale. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was just about to turn and leave when the door swung open. Gavin stood there in boxers and sleeveless shirt, hair charmingly rumpled and a baseball bat in his hands, half-raised.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nines?” He lowered the bat. “How long you been standing there? You were freaking out the cat.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gavin, I’m so sorry to wake you. I shouldn’t have come so late. I’ll go.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hold the fuck up. You came all the way out here, you may as well come in.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He stood aside for Nines to enter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You want some blue juice or something?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No thank you. I’m sorry if I surprised you, but--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just spit it out, Nines.” Gavin threw himself down on the couch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can't stop thinking about what happened at the dairy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry man, like I said if you want to try to report I'll back you up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It's not that, though I appreciate it. The machine that attacked, something was very off about it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, no shit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines made a frustrated sound and started pacing back and forth in front of the couch. “Not just the fact it was trying to kill me, but the way it went about it. I've worked on various types of drones before, their programming is extremely basic, not much more than modified auto-drive software.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“OK, so?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, this one chased me; it changed directions four times, and then stopped when we got too far away. That behavior is complex. It involved observation, calculation, decision-making. Behaviors that should be impossible to program into a drone.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin yawned. “OK, so, someone had it remote controlled, then.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think so. While it was chasing me, I tried to use my military application to hack it or disrupt the radio frequency, but there was nothing to hack. Not even a physical address to observe. There was no one controlling it remotely.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“OK, so you seem to have a theory that I haven’t thought of, so what is it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s unlikely and rather wild. I'm embarrassed to even voice it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t wait to hear it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines continued, slowly. “The drone’s behavior could be explained if there was an actual AI inside it.” He looked at Gavin and waited for him to understand what he was getting at.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin frowned. “How would they fit in there, though, the chassis on those things would barely fit a cat.” He gestured to Bastard, who had been sitting on the back of the couch watching them this whole time with a bored expression.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It would be possible, if it was just the head.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin’s mouth made a little ‘O’ of shock. “That’s possible? Gruesome. No wonder you look freaked out. But if it’s really Blue Crusade we’re talking about, I guess it’s not out of the question.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines nodded. “Also, that problem I </span>
  <span>mentioned about the tanker trucks: their wireless connectivity had been completely disabled, which is why I had to interface manually, and there was a custom program in there that auto deleted all GPS and travel info every hour. It was causing some other software bugs that confused their navigation in the yard, which is why they wouldn’t move.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah. That’s drug-runner type shit right there.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines nodded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That would explain why they had one of the collectors attack you, probably thought you were a spy, but why kidnap and dismember androids in the first place?  That seems like a lot of effort for just collecting manure and very occasionally being attack dogs.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But with an advanced AI controlling them, they would be excellent mules--those collectors can travel up to eighty kilometers per hour, and they can climb over very difficult terrain, and they look very nondescript, no one would notice them in many different types of settings. They could spend time at the dairy in between smuggling jobs.” Nines shrugged and made a small frustrated sound. “This is all wild speculation, of course.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not that wild. Back when I was a kid, we used self-driving motorbikes to smuggle red ice around neighborhoods. They couldn’t carry as much as a car, but it was much easier to hack their system so that the cops’ overrides wouldn’t work on them. And people just don’t look twice at smaller vehicles like that. So what does Markus think about all this?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I haven’t talked to him yet. I wanted to bounce this off you first. You were there, you saw, and you sensed the danger well before I did.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A look crossed Gavin’s face. Nines didn’t have time or attention to fully analyze it now, but it looked like he was flattered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, there’s one quick way to test your hypothesis. Let’s go back and take a look inside one of the drones. You know if there’s one, there’s probably more.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines eyes widened. “You’re not serious.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin shrugged and grinned. He loved getting any kind of rise out of Nines, but was now really the time to be flip?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Their security isn’t that great, especially in the fields. Assuming that our little incident doesn’t make them change their routine they’ll still be using the drones for manure collection like normal. We go at night, hop a couple fences until we find one. Pop it open and boom. Either there’ll be a head, or not.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I really don’t think it would be that simple,” Nines said. “What if only that one collector is… special. I don’t know how I’d find it again.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, for one thing, if I remember right, it had just come in from the field. If it was special, it didn’t look like it. It was working at the same tasks as the others. Also, what’s the “I” stuff? I’m going with you, obviously.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, I couldn’t ask you to do that. You could go to jail, or get hurt.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re not asking, I’m telling: I’m going with you. It’s my idea and it sounds way too fun to miss.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Fun? Who </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> this man? Nines thought. He had the sudden strong urge to stop everything and analyze all the memories tagged “Gavin”. Not the time. Gavin was still talking. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s drive around a bit. Figure out the best place to break in. I have some ideas…” Gavin started walking up the stairs, as if going to get dressed. What? He wanted to go right now? Eager beaver.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think we should go now. You need to sleep.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mm, I probably won’t, after this, but you have a point. We should go to work like normal tomorrow, don’t arouse suspicion.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines found it surprisingly difficult to leave the house. He wanted to stay close to Gavin. He felt so relieved and gratified that Gavin had listened to his ridiculous theory with an open mind. But he also felt guilty about disturbing his already inconsistent sleep cycle. He needed to leave him alone. Besides, they’d see each other at work in just a few hours.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-----------------</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Nines was back at Gavin’s house the next evening. He thought they’d both done a good job ‘playing it cool’ all day, but the tension was starting to get to Nines. Gavin, on the other hand, seemed excited and happier than he had in weeks. He was in his driveway when Nines arrived, pulling the tarp off the pickup that they’d worked on earlier that month.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that going to be safe to drive at highway speeds? Or any speed?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Probably. Its main attraction is lack of any GPS, and lack of registration.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It's illegal to drive a vehicle without registration. Have you considered what happens if the police pull you over?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let me show you a neat trick.” He squatted down and rubbed grease over the stickers, and one of the license plate numbers. “Not too much, mind. Just enough to fuck with their recognition software. Traffic cops are pretty lazy, unless it’s end of shift and they got a quota to fill, they’re not gonna look too deep into a dirty, nondescript truck driven by a blue collar-looking white dude. Which is also why we’re gonna wait ten more minutes before heading out, after shift change.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines shook his head in wonder. “You’re amazing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin’s ears turned bright red at the compliment. “Well, I figured if you’re gonna trespass, might as well do it right. Speaking of--.” He donned a trucker hat and sunglasses to avoid facial recognition on their way out of town, and insisted Nines do the same. “Oh, and don’t forget to shut off your own brain GPS or whatever you have in there.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m afraid to ask but, how are you so well-versed in criminal trespass procedures?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I ran with some punks when I was a kid. Red ice runners, remember”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You mean a gang?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“More like the contract messenger service for a real gang, but yeah: a few more years and I would have been stuck for life. I almost died getting out as it was. They beat me up and left me on the streets in the middle of winter in a snowstorm. Nowhere to go, no one would take me in.” He fell silent.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What happened?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You won’t believe it, but Fowler found me curled next to a dumpster and let me sleep in the shop for a few nights, offered to let me apprentice there. He’s a hard ass, but he’s fair.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s also my observation. Not unlike yourself.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hah! Well, the hardass part is true.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Your deflection no longer works on me, Reed</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Nines thought with a little smile. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“OK, here’s the place on the map I was talking about,” Gavin said, pulling off onto a narrow gravel road lined with shrubs. He pulled out a paper--yes, paper--map and pointed to a spot he had circled. “If we park here, it’s a straight shot to the dairy property without running into any other roads or houses.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines compared the map to the one he had downloaded earlier before going into airplane mode. “It seems correct. Very efficient strategy, Gavin.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Flattery will get you nowhere. Now we just need luck tomorrow night.” </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>-------Gavin-------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The night started out according to plan. They parked the truck in the bushes and hopped a few fences (which Nines did with ease and grace, of course, and Gavin managed like a duck with two broken wings). It was quiet out here, Nines couldn’t detect any security measures, and it only took an hour of walking through mud to spot a collector.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After that, though, things got weird. Nines made Gavin wait while he approached the drone from behind, in stealth mode. Gavin watched with his heart in his throat as the drone stopped what it was doing, turned slowly toward Nines and then folded its creepy spider legs and settled down in front of him like an obedient puppy. Nines prodded the machine for a few minutes, and when nothing happened, beckoned Gavin over and they each took a side, removing maintenance plates.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines had stuck his arm up to elbow in the guts of the machine when he suddenly yanked it out with a sound Gavin had never heard him make before, inhuman, a hybrid between the word ‘fuck’ and the screeching of a fire alarm. He’d never heard him swear like that before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Something--someone--just tried to interface with me.” He looked up at Gavin with eyes wide with alarm before turning back to slowly put his arm back inside. He closed his eyes, and after what seemed like only seconds to Gavin, but he knew probably felt like long minutes to the android, Nines pulled away with a shudder, the white retreating down his wrist like a waterfall.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was right. But it's so much worse than I imagined.” He looked horrified, anguished, even.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh shit, there really is a head in there? And it’s… alive, and talking to you?” Gavin swallowed bile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines nodded, and glanced around and whispered. “We have to leave, now, he says there's a lot more security than we know about. And we’re bringing him, there’s no way I can leave him.” He glanced at Gavin, looking a bit defiant, pleading. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, of course we bring him. Can he walk?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No. Talking to me has triggered security measures. He can’t control the legs anymore. We also can't disconnect him from the collector body, he'll die without the battery. It's... it's literally just his head and thirium pump in there.” Gavin wasn’t sure if androids could feel nausea, but Nines looked like it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin reached out and gave Nines’ shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “We can do this.” He knelt down and opened his tool bag. “If we disconnect everything from the frame, we should be able to carry it without damaging any of the internal components.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They quickly disassembled the collector, even removing the cover plates to make it as light as possible. What was left was an oval steel frame that was still at least a hundred kilograms, with wires and leaky hydraulic fluid lines stuck out every which way. Gavin could now hear the faint sound of a thirium pump--so much like a heartbeat-- and a flash of white skin inside the bundles of wires. Whoever had done this was sick.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I can carry most of the weight if you would help steady it, please." Nines sounded calm and strange: cold and focused in a way Gavin had never seen him. His LED was blinking red and his head was on a constant swivel, scanning the darkness around them for threats. His posture had changed as well: slightly crouched, free hand slightly raised like he was ready to be attacked at any moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin thought he was probably accessing some of his military programming, and this was confirmed in the most exciting way possible a few minutes later: They were still fifty meters from the truck when he suddenly stopped and hissed, "drone coming from behind, fast. From the sound, it's a big one, probably armed.” His head whipped around, “there’s no cover here.” He set down the frame and pressed a hand on Gavin's shoulder. "Stay here, stay down, I'll be right back."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nines, what--?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he had already taken off, moving supernaturally fast back the way they had come, toward the light in the sky that was coming their way in a zig-zag pattern. Gavin could hear it now, the low insect buzz getting louder every second. He cursed and switched off his flashlight and crouched down in the mud next to the collector.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Seconds later, Nines met up with the light. It was close enough that Gavin had a good view when Nines, without effort, leapt twenty meters into the air and knocked the drone right out of the sky. He heard a thud as they both hit the ground, then distant crunching sounds and the drone’s buzzing went silent, its light disappeared.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Damn, Nines, I didn’t know you could move like that," he said when he returned. Nines nodded curtly, eyes still distant and cold as he continued to scan the darkness. He picked up the collector’s frame again, and Gavin noticed blue drops fall onto the steel wire. “Hey, your hands are bleeding.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines shook his head dismissively without even looking at his wounds. "Superficial. Quick now, before another drone arrives.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He struggled to keep up with Nines’ faster pace. Whenever they reached a fence, Gavin let go and Nines jumped over it holding the collector in one hand like it was a goddamn picnic basket, and when they reached the truck, he hopped into the bed like it was nothing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin jumped in the driver’s seat, sweaty, heart hammering. He peeled out on the gravel and didn’t take a full breathe until they were back on a highway with no signs of lights in the sky above.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nines, where do you want to go? Nines?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He glanced over. Nines was facing backwards in the seat of the tiny pickup cab, arm stretched through the back window so he could interface with the android inside. He looked very spaced out, staring out into nothing and his LED filled the cab with red light.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin grabbed his calf and gave his leg a shake. “Nines!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A shudder went through the android’s entire body and his eyes finally focused on Gavin. “Sorry, I’m having trouble… processing everything right now. I do not… have sufficient information… to determine the best approach. I-I don’t know if it’s bad to bring stolen p-property to New Jericho... but where else could we go? Not the police; N-not your place, that would p-put you in danger… Gavin he’s so scared.. I can’t disconnect and leave him alone--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nines, listen to me. You need to disconnect for a minute, the interface is messing with you. Are you listening?” Gavin squeezed his calf again. “I need you to disconnect. You can’t help him if you’re like this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another shudder, and then Nines abruptly pulled his arm back into the cab, and turned and collapsed back into the seat, his hand stayed white to the elbow for a long moment. He closed his eyes. “He screamed when I retreated. He doesn’t want to be left alone in the dark.” He gave his head a sharp shake. “Gavin, I need to go idle for thirty seconds, please stand by.” He slumped down in the seat, eyes closed, and his LED went grey and dull. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin counted the seconds until Nines sat up again, LED now orange and looking much calmer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, that was a lot. To answer your question, please drive to New Jericho. Markus is the only one I trust with this.” To Gavin’s great relief, he sounded normal again, both the panic and the coldness gone from his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And where exactly is that? I’ve never been there before.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m messaging someone I know who lives there. Give me a moment.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they arrived at the address, Gavin waited with the truck, nervously scanning the street while Nines ran inside. He returned a few minutes later with half a dozen androids who swarmed over the truck, carefully lifted out the collector frame and rushed it inside. Nines stayed behind, but his eyes followed the the group, clearly wishing he could be with them. He turned and put his hand on Gavin’s shoulder. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you so much for your help--oh, sorry, I forgot.” He looked down at his damaged hands, and the blue stain he’d just left on Gavin’s shirt. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shouldn’t you have someone here take a look at those?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines shook his head. “Unnecessary. They just need some pressure bandages and they should be mostly healed by tomorrow. They gave me some.” He pulled a couple ace bandages out of his pocket and looked down on them with a lost, dazed expression.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin took the bandages wordlessly and Nines obediently held his hands out for Gavin to wrap. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What happens next?” Gavin asked as he worked. “I mean, all those other collector drones we saw at the dairy the other day, they all probably have android heads in them, right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin immediately cursed his poor phrasing as Nines’ LED turned red for a moment. “Markus doesn’t want to make another move until he’s had a chance to talk to Seth--that’s his name, the rescued android--first, and with the state he’s in, that won’t be possible tonight, and possibly not for a few days. He wants us both to stick to our normal routine, to go to work tomorrow, tell no one else what we know.” He smiled for a moment, looking at Gavin. “He complimented your paranoia about GPS and facial recognition. Whoever’s behind this is obviously powerful and the less they can discover about us the better.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, you won’t be staying here then?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, it’s better I don’t.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then you’re coming with me.” Gavin made a split second decision and the words came out before he could overthink them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines blinked. “What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s no way I’m letting you go home alone after what just happened. I saw your face. I don’t really know much about how you tin cans interface, but I know trauma when I see it. You’re not going to spend the night alone.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines stared at him a long time. “You could be right. I feel profoundly disturbed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Plus, uh, it could be a good alibi, too. You know, if anyone asks where either of us were all night.” He tried valiantly to stay cool, but he could feel heat creeping into his cheeks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines must have been preoccupied, no smart-ass quip, he just climbed back into the cab. Now that the adrenaline from the evening was well and truly worn off, Gavin was exhausted. And being exhausted, he couldn’t keep his mind from wandering. Gavin looked over at the passenger seat. The Nines sitting there quietly was very different from the Nines he’d witnessed out in the field, cold and distant and powerful. Deadly. Pulling apart the big military-grade drone with his bare hands with only a few scratches to show for it. Gavin wondered what it would feel like to have those arms around him, knowing they could crush him like a bug, but trusting him not to. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>-----------------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Walking into the living room the next morning to see Nines on his couch, LED gray in idle mode, made him feel... things. Awkward things. Things that made his stomach do little flip flops when he remembered that androids only go idle like that around people they really trust.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He hadn’t slept all that well himself last night, but that wasn’t strange. He was used to nightmares, but last night’s were a whole new level of horror: involving digging through a disassembled collector drone’s midsection only to find Nines’ lifeless, silently screaming head inside, for example.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He made coffee just to give himself something to do, and waited for the sounds to wake up Nines.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He started speaking as soon as he opened his eyes. “I got a message from one of the New Jericho residents a few hours ago: Seth is out of surgery and was successfully housed in a new body. He’s expected to be fully operational in a few days. They haven’t questioned him too much just yet, but from what they’ve found so far, he’s a HR400 model last known to live in Montana. There is no missing person report out on him, but since police forces still don’t take missing androids seriously, that doesn’t mean much. They’re working on finding any friends or relatives.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So they’re still not going to the cops with this?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, and I agree. Now that I’ve had time to analyze all this new information, it’s even more abundantly clear that the people who did this are very dangerous and powerful. We can’t take the risk they have spies in law enforcement. I’m now worried even more about the danger this puts you in, since it’s your vehicle we drove out there. Even with the precautions we took, it’s possible they could trace this back to you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Trust me, the best defense is to play it cool. Don’t want to change our routines. So, we probably shouldn’t, uh, arrive at work together. I’ll drive in, and you’ll take the bus like normal, yeah?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That seems logical, yes.” But he didn’t budge from the couch. “Gavin, you’re risking a lot by helping us. You don’t have to.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah, fuck off. If you’re trying to get rid of me, you’re outta luck. Last night was the most fun I’ve had in years, the trespassing and being chased by killer drones part anyway,” He grinned and was rewarded with the first smile he’d seen from Nines in days..</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>--------Nines--------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>By the time Nines arrived at the shop, Gavin seemed completely normal. He was very good at pretending nothing extraordinary had happened recently, even with Tina. She was astute, though, and during lunch eyed the two of them sitting casually apart from each other on either end of one of the break tables outside. “Weird thing, Gavin arriving before you today, Nines. I think that’s a first.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines shrugged, not sure what she was hinting at until he glanced at Gavin and saw he was avoiding eye contact with both of them, hunched in on himself and nursing his third cigarette in a row. The tips of his ears had gone an astonishing shade of pink and he radiated embarrassment so strongly not even his usual bravado could cover it up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh. Tina was implying they’d spent the night together. Gavin’s sudden embarrassment was odd, considering earlier he’d used that same idea as a possible alibi. Confusing. He thought quickly of something that would draw Tina’s attention away from Gavin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s because I didn’t come from my apartment. I spent the night at a friend’s--” he saw Gavin twitch and quickly added, “--from Jericho.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, Nines, you sly dog,” she said and gave him a double thumbs up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well Gavin, it’s official.” She punched him on the shoulder on her way back to the shop. “You’re officially the least-fuckable being in the whole office, including the androids and Fowler.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck you Tina,” Gavin replied cheerfully, back on more comfortable ground. But he shot Nines a look that was confusingly intense and complex. Nines watched him snuff out his cigarette and follow Tina back into the shop without another word. He tried to process Gavin’s reaction, and extreme embarrassment just now, and like with so many Gavin-related simulations, simply didn’t have enough data. It didn’t help that the file where he stored Gavin-related data and video clips was becoming unwieldy. He really needed to organize Gavin data differently for more efficient retrieval.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>--------------------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Nines hurried straight to New Jericho after work to check on Seth. They weren’t letting visitors stay too long, but he wanted Seth to see a familiar face for a few minutes. Markus and North both talked to him afterwards, and later he hung around the building, saying hello to some acquaintances he hadn’t seen in awhile. He was so preoccupied it never occurred to him to say goodbye to Gavin first, and when he came out of New Jericho hours later he realized he had several panicked texts from Gavin wondering where he was. He quickly sent a quick apology. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>&gt;&gt;Sorry to worry you, I was visiting Seth and had turned my wifi off</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He got a reply within seconds, which was surprising. Gavin was usually asleep by this time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>&gt;&gt;thought the dairy dude had you kidnapped stupid toaster</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>&gt;&gt;I’m not used to anyone caring about my whereabouts</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>&gt;&gt;well im not used to worrying about friends getting beheaded and enslaved</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines leaned against the bus stop and analyzed this for a few seconds. This was also the longest text conversation he’d ever had with Gavin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So, Nines took this as an invitation, and sent back more messages to Gavin. He told him about his time with Seth, and the new insights Markus and North had about Blue Crusade.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin seemed interested at first, asking questions, then, out of the blue, sent: </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>&gt;&gt;rly great about all your ANDROID friends but humans need sleep sometime</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All caps? What did that mean?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>&gt;&gt;OK, good night Gavin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>&gt;&gt;see ya</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>--------------------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the fuck is this?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines looked up in surprise from where he was working in Bay three.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told you to pull error codes, not take the whole damn thing apart!” Gavin was standing over him, arms crossed, scowling. This was the most words he’d spoken all day.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“One of the ECU’s wasn’t responding, I had to go looking for it.” He gestured at the pile of parts surrounding him, which, a part of Gavin had to admit was very well organized and neat. “You know how these old rigs are, too many upgrades and retrofits over the years makes it impossible to find anyth-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The client can’t haul freight with a fucking pile of parts. Put it back together, now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh.” Nines was beyond confused as Gavin spun around and stomped away. The last time he’d acted like this, had been weeks ago, and he’d come to apologize later, but he didn’t see him again that morning, and when he tried to find Gavin during lunch break, but he was nowhere to be found. He appeared again after break, but was definitely avoiding him the rest of the day.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines finally caught up with him after closing, in the parking lot as everyone was leaving. The man had the gall to pretend not to see him, and that sparked anger. He rushed after him, and grabbed his arm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The fuck--” Gavin started to say, but Nines interrupted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Obviously something is bothering you, but I don’t know what it is. You’ll have to tell me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Haven’t you figured it out, yet? I’m just an asshole all the time. I don’t need a reason, that’s just who I am.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmm. And yet my memory files of the last few months say something different. You act like an asshole to defect from your real feelings.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t fucking analyze me.” Gavin tried to pull away, but Nines refused to let go just yet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“OK, so if you won’t use your words like an adult and tell me what’s wrong, I will have to guess. Does it have something to do with you worrying about me when I forgot to check in last night? Or that Or how you’re constantly worried that I’ll lose interest in our friendship for whatever reason?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin scoffed, but the way he averted his eyes and figited made Nines believe his guesses were all correct.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look, I’m sorry I snapped at you today. I am a childish asshole, you’re right. But for real, you need to stop following me around and acting like we’re friends when I know you prefer androids over humans. I know I was all that was available for a minute there, and I appreciate your help with my truck and all, but now you don’t need to deal with me anymore. I’ll see you around.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He turned to leave, but Nines grabbed his wrist again and spun him back around. “I’m not done talking. You saved my life, and you took me seriously when I came to you with a very laughable hypothesis. You were the only one I felt I could turn to. Like it or not, that makes you my best friend. Maybe you’re unfamiliar with the concept, but...” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines had more to say, but trailed off, distracted as Gavin’s face started to change. A frown still creased his brow, but something about his eyes softened. His heart rate and respiration increased, and when he looked down at Nines’ hand, still gripping his wrist, he stopped trying to pull away. Nines glanced down and silently cursed. His hand glowed pearly-white in the late afternoon sunlight. Of course his skin chose this time to retract. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He glanced back up and their eyes met. Gavin swallowed, his lips parted half a millimeter, and his eyes flickered to Nines’ mouth for a split second.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Wait. What? Nines blinked rapidly, processing what he thought he was seeing. He opened the file marked "Gavin" and rapidly ran though memory clips as fast as he could. Could it be...?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He didn’t have time for accurate statistics, but preliminary results showed that Gavin spoke to him over 60% more often than anyone else in the shop (excluding farm calls for which Nines had no data, and Tina who was an outlier), which wasn't odd considering he was training with him but... it also showed that he initiated physical contact 72% more often than anyone else observed. Granted, most of that contact was things like kicks to the ankles, slaps on the shoulder, elbow nudges, but... It was a discrepancy with a lot of promise.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He refocused on Gavin. Processing time had taken 1.98 seconds. Long enough to make the silence awkward. He desperately wanted more time to figure out the correct approach, but Gavin's face was already hardening, cynicism always just under the surface, ready to take over. He had nanoseconds before he would turn away and the moment would be lost.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So, even without proper analyzing time, he leaned down and kissed Gavin on the mouth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He didn’t know what to expect, but in order of likelihood: Gavin would push him away (78%); be shocked and disgusted (67%), passively let the kiss happen and then leave without a word (55%).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But instead what happened was Gavin eagerly and without hesitation kissed him back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>An eternity and multiple ‘software instability’ alerts later, they pulled apart. Gavin looked down, the tips of his ears and cheeks were a fascinating shade of pink and he stammered when he spoke, but he didn’t move away, and he didn’t take his hand from where now rested on Nine’s waist.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘I, uh, didn’t know you were programmed to do that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wasn’t programmed to be a mechanic, either. Don’t you know by now that deviation means I get to do things I want, not just what I’m programmed for?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He tried to get Gavin to look at him again, but Gavin refused to meet his eyes, fiddling with the front of Nines’ jacket. He could see without running a scan that his pulse and respiration were even more elevated than a moment ago, and weren’t going down even though the kiss was over. Was this arousal, or fear? Or both?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry I wasn’t honest just now,” Nines said. Gavin jerked his head up, suspicious. Nines rubbed his still-white thumb  across the inside of Gavin’s wrist in a slow soothing motion and was rewarded with goosebumps rising on his arm and a miniscule contraction of his irises. Damn, he could spend hours just observing this man’s physical reactions.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t precisely see you as just a friend, anymore. I haven’t for awhile.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Seriously?” Gavin said, letting out his breath in a sound that was half-laugh, half groan. “You’re always talking about not being interested in romance, or whatever.” Somehow, his ears got ever redder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not quite it.” Nines said carefully. It was his turn to be nervous. “Romance with you is very appealing, actually.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To his relief, Gavin didn’t ask any more questions, didn’t deflect, or crack a joke. He simply murmured, “goddamn,” and brought up to cup the side of Nines’ face and pulled him in for another kiss. Nines was able to focus on this one better than the first, Gavin was so surprisingly soft about it, sliding his hand along Nines’ cheek to hold the back of his neck. Androids didn’t get goosebumps, but Nines felt an electric spark fly along his artificial nerve endings where Gavin touched him, causing multiple alerts to pop up on his overlay. He ignored them all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Somewhere down the street, a car backfired and Gavin glanced around nervously, seeming to suddenly remember where he was. It occurred to Nines that he may not be the only one who needed some processing time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“See you tomorrow?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, for sure.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-----------------------</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Neither of them got much work done the next day. They kept catching each other staring at the other across the shop floor. Gavin in particular became very clumsy when he was distracted, tripping over things and dropping tools at 84% higher rate than normal. It was adorable. Every time it happened, a ‘software instability’ alert would briefly ping Nines’ overlay.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tina, of course, noticed, and teased Gavin mercilessly for a couple hours, until she finally caught the two of them in one of their little bashful staring contests. She stopped dead, her mouth made a little O of surprise, gave Nines a double thumbs up, and then didn’t say another word to Gavin the rest of the day. He filed away that away for later analyzing, but his preliminary guess was that she wanted them to be together and didn’t want to scare Gavin with too much teasing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines really liked Tina.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had never anticipated the end of the work day so much. They hadn’t had a chance to talk much at all during the day. He had no idea what to expect from Gavin, or what Gavin expected of him. At one point, he disappeared, and Nines feared he was avoiding him again, but when he emerged into the parking lot, Gavin was there, leaning against the building, smoking. The second he saw Nines, his face lit up and he snuffed out the cigarette and came over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” Gavin said, hesitated just a moment, then leaned up to give Nines a quick kiss. The tips of his ears had once again gone pink. And he glanced around a little to see who else was in the parking lot.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Embarrassed to be seen with an android?” Nines asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What? No! Fuck all these fuckers,” Gavin replied, suddenly loud and defiant. He grabbed Nines around the waist and pulled him close for a much longer kiss.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he pulled away, his eyes were fierce and he stared into Nines’ face unflinchingly. “I don’t care what anyone thinks,” he said, voice low and even gruffer than usual. “It’s just none of their business.” He lifted his chin. “Come over tonight.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A dozen alerts immediately filled up Nines’ overlay. The complex mix of strong emotions elevated his thirium pump rate, and he felt a blush forming on his own cheeks, a rarity. He nodded. “I’d like that.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>----------------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Nines realized 1.4 seconds before Gavin opened the door that evening that he didn’t know the greeting protocol for this particular social situation. They’d just kissed in the parking lot at work mere hours before, but should this new greeting be another kiss? A hug? Surely not a handshake…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin seemed just as uncertain. When he opened the door, he looked almost stunned and just stared at Nines for 2.8 seconds. “You brought me flowers?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Technically, one flower.” Nines held it out, and Gavin looked at it so long Nines wasn’t sure he was going to take it. When he did, he held it gingerly, like it would bite him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This isn’t a joke, is it? This whole…” he trailed off, waving the flower around. “Like, payback for the way I treated you or Connor or something?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines had the urge to laugh, but the look on Gavin’s face was genuinely fearful, vulnerable. He offered his hand to Gavin, palm up, to show him the skin retracting. “I leave you alone with your thoughts for two hours and that’s the best conspiracy theory you can come up with?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin huffed, a sound that was half-amused, half-irritated. “Asshole. You actually being interested in me seems a lot less likely than an elaborate prank.” He slowly reached out and took Nines’ hand, considering it, turned it over and stroked Nines’ wrist with his thumb.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines took a step closer and said, softly, “I wish I could interface with you, I could show you exactly how you make me feel.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin looked up at him--even standing in the doorway he was a touch shorter than Nines--and they both seemed to remember at the same time that kissing was an option now. He grabbed Nines a bit roughly (for a human, Nines of course barley felt jostled) and gave him a kiss that, like earlier, had an element of defiance to it, as if he had to prove something. They were interrupted by a meow near their feet. They both looked down as Bastard rubbed against Nines’ legs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit, let’s get inside before he escapes. There are multiple cats in this neighborhood who’ve got it out for him.” He ushered Nines inside and started rummaging in his cupboards for something to put the flower in, finally settling on an empty beer bottle. He placed it in the kitchen window sill.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks. Um, thanks for the flower, and for… coming over tonight.” He turned to look at Nines, nervously tapping his fingers on the counter behind him. Nines felt a sort of ache somewhere in his chest. A need to do something to set Gavin at ease. Who could have predicted he’d be the one so uncertain in this situation. He’d had a lot more experience with romantic partners than Nines.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines stepped close to Gavin and kissed him again, trying something a little new. He opened his mouth and brushed the tip of his tongue against Gavin's lips. He was rewarded with a sharp inhale and Gavin opened his mouth to him eagerly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a strange sensation, to slide his tongue against Gavin's. Intensely intimate, and, especially considering his question of a moment ago, implying a deep trust from the man. Nines could taste so many things, nicotine and smoke, coffee, toothpaste, pheromones--human saliva was complex, he could have spent some minutes analyzing it, but that data was mostly superfluous to this moment, and it wouldn't be right to do so without permission.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wrapped his arms around Gavin and pulled him close, so their chests were flush together. He could feel Gavin’s heartbeat directly through his ribcage. Could Gavin feel the thrum of his thirium pump? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sometime in the middle of this, Gavin’s entire demeanor changed. His edge of defiance and aggression melted away, he relaxed into Nines and the kiss became soft and slow. He splayed his fingers in his hair while his thumb made a slow caress on his jaw. It was a very nice sensation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Whoa." Gavin said when they finally pulled apart. His voice was soft and his eyes dilated. Nines was thrilled at the reaction. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin cleared his throat. "If you don’t mind me asking, how come your mouth is, you know... wet?" His voice wobbled slightly on the last word and Nines smiled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Our designer wanted us to be able to mimic human speech exactly, so he gave us all the same things humans use to make sounds. That's why we have lungs even though we don't breathe, a larynx, and saliva. We only use our speaker box in an emergency.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Wait, you have speakers? Can I hook you up to Bluetooth?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh right, you haven't heard my robot voice before. Nines opened his mouth and accessed the text-to-voice function. "</span>
  <b>
    <em>It sounds something like this.</em>
  </b>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ok, that's weird."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines played back Gavin's voice through the speaker, “</span>
  <b>
    <em>OK that's weird.</em>
  </b>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Shiiit," Gavin laughed and punched him in the shoulder. "Don't do that.... until I say so. I've suddenly got some great prank ideas.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines chuckled, glad that the awkwardness had receded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, uh, I didn’t really have a plan for tonight. I thought we could watch movies?” He gestured to the tablet laying on the coffee table (hastily and recently cleaned, Nine’s could tell).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’d like that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was one more awkward moment as they got settled on the couch. Gavin couldn’t seem to decide how close to sit, until Nines lifted his arm in an invitation, and Gavin relaxed into his side with a grateful sigh, a soft, warm weight to wrap his arm around. An alert pinged his overlay just from how good it felt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin fiddled with the tablet. “What’s your preference?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I haven’t watched many movies, what would you suggest?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you have an opinion about pirates?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know much about pirates, but the subject seems promising.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Childhood classics it is, then.” He chose a movie, and then flicked it onto the TV screen. It was an older 2D movie of extremely dubious historical accuracy. Nines laughed out loud at the ridiculous fighting scenes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He let his fingers trace a line down his arm. Gavin responded by doing the same to Nines’ knee. “Does this not tickle?” he asked at one point, tracing Nines’ knee cap.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think I’ve ever been ticklish.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Does it feel good?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, it feels good.” To drive the point home, and because Gavin was acting much more shy than anticipated,  he picked up Gavin’s hand and placed it on his chest. He looked up, eyebrows raised, then smiled and started rubbing his hand up and down Nines’ chest. Nines let out a little sigh and turned down his sound and sight input levels so he could focus more on the sensation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not to over analyze this but, why is that? Doesn’t seem like the type of thing they’d build a military robot to experience.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No one is quite sure, deviation is a complex phenomenon, and different for every android. In my case, I think it’s because I’m programmed to understand a multitude of different kinds of physical contact, part of a complex algorithm to recognize friend from foe and parse subtle interactions with humans. My basic code tells me to be relieved and, for lack of a better word, ‘happy’ when physical contact is friendly. Deviation, and the way I’ve grown to feel about you, has elevated those feelings even further.” he paused a long moment, letting Gavin’s hand travel all the way down to his abdomen, and then back up to his throat . “It’s not sexual, for me. It never will be. I need you to understand that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin nodded, “I get it, don’t worry about it, I don’t need anything like that from you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But do you? Sex is usually so important--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin grabbed the back of Nine’s head and interrupted him with a kiss. “Shut up and stop making this more complicated than it needs to be.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines thought Gavin probably had a point, but he still worried that the day would come when Gavin would be disappointed with his limits. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But, for tonight, they watched a movie--several, actually, apparently there were several sequels to the first movie--and stayed close together, constantly sharing touches. Now that some invisible barrier had been broken, Gavin turned out to be a very touchy, physically affectionate person.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At one point, Nines experimented with running his fingers through Gavin’s hair and watched the goosebumps spring up on his neck and arms, a phenomenon which was quickly becoming his favorite effect.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the movie ended at 3am, and Gavin was yawning every five minutes, Nines made to say goodnight and leave but Gavin reached out and grabbed his hand. “You could stay if you wanted.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines knew him well enough to translate that to, “I really want you to stay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He smiled down at the man sitting on the couch looking up at him, overcome with a wave of affection. “Like, in your bed?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I-if you want to. No sex, that’s not what I mean,” he added hastily.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines reached out and traced a finger along Gavin’s jawline, thrilled that he got to do this whenever he wanted now. What a difference a day makes. “I’d love to, but I want you to admit it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Admit what,” Gavin said, trying to look suspicious but mainly coming across as dazed, leaning into the caress.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Admit you like cuddling.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck you,” He replied, and flicked Nines’ fingers away, but he was fighting a smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines thought a moment, then decided to take a little risk. “Say it or... I’m leaving.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah, you piece of-- fine. I like cuddling. I fucking love cuddling. I want to do nothing but cuddle with you for the next three days straight. There, happy?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines leaned down and kissed him lightly. “Very. I don’t want to leave, either.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin turned off the light and slid under the covers and reached out to find Nines in the dark. “Roll on your side,” he murmured, and when Nines obliged, tucked his body against his back with a deep sigh that seemed to come all the way from the soles of his feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When it had been dark for a few minutes Gavin’s breathing changed. Not to a sleep rhythm, but like he kept drawing breath to speak, and then the words didn’t quite make it out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is it Gavin?” Nines said softly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I...really like this,” came his reply a minute later. Quiet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then why do you sound sad?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m afraid it won’t last. You’ll get tired of me, or find a job and leave.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines rolled over so he was facing him, even though he knew Gavin wouldn’t be able to see him in the dark. “I really like this, too. And I care for you a great deal. Even if I eventually leave the shop, I’m not leaving the city, Gavin. I meant that. Before I met you, I wasn’t sure what home felt like, but now I know: it’s here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin sighed again and leaned in until their foreheads were touching. Nines could feel his breath, and hear his pulse thrumming. They held each other until Gavin fell asleep.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>---------Gavin--------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin didn’t sleep well--he wasn’t used to sleeping next to someone--but he woke up more relaxed and content than he’d been in a very long time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked at Nines, on his back, eyes closed, LED a dull gray color of idle mode. Gavin knew it wasn’t really like sleeping, or a turned off computer, and that Nines was partially aware of his surroundings, but he still moved quietly as he got out of bed and went downstairs so as not to disturb him. He didn’t want to use the bathroom next to the bedroom for a little more privacy. He needed to piss, and figured he might as well take care of something else as well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He quickly and unceremoniously masturbated while sitting on the toilet lid, studiously keeping thoughts of Nines shoved as far in the back of his mind as possible. Not that he’d always followed that rule the last few months, but with their recent conversation, and him lying literally upstairs it seemed rude to use him that way without asking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That business didn’t take long at all. He washed up and went out to the kitchen to make coffee and feed Bastard. He opened the curtains over the tiny kitchen window and looked out in the driveway at the four tarp-covered project cars, excited about working on them for the first time in weeks. This Saturday was full of promise.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines came down the stairs, looking a bit rumpled and LED swirling yellow. Gavin was coming to learn that could mean any number of emotions, embarrassment, awkwardness, nervousness, mild disgust, regret. He tried to not think too hard about it being the latter two and walked over to give him a quick kiss. He seemed to like that, at least, it made him smile. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wish I could feed you breakfast, that is the tradition, after all.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What would you normally make on a Saturday?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If I’m feelin’ fancy, eggs, bacon and toast.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What if you made that, and let me sample a little of everything.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Huh. Didn’t know androids could eat anything.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have a full onboard forensics kit. That’s how I figured out how you made your coffee back when we first started working together.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be damned,” Gavin laughed, “I always wondered about that. I figured you’d just asked Tina, the two of you have seemed to conspire together from the start.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now that you mention it, she was the one who encouraged me to work with you.” Nines smiled at the memory, but his LED stayed stubbornly yellow. Something was definitely on his mind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After breakfast, Gavin invited him to stay longer. “We could go work on the cars. I really need to do the brakes and struts on the Celica.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines hesitated a fraction of a second before agreeing, and then seemed preoccupied the whole time. Gavin started to get a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He thought last night went so well. Mildly awkward a few times, but nothing bad. Or had it been worse then he remembered? Gavin had been so goddamn nervous, it made him feel like a teenager again, but Nines had seemed so understanding and, god, so tender. Was he having second thoughts? Had Gavin been too needy, for asking him to stay? Gavin was usually too “something” to whoever he’d dated in the past.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After about an hour of stewing in silence and taking way too long just on the simple task of getting the car up on blocks and all four tires off, Gavin couldn’t take it anymore. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, you know what,” Gavin suddenly threw down the wrench he’d been holding and turned to face Nines, hands on hips. “Just get it over with. Whatever’s on your mind, don’t sugar coat it for me. If you have buyer’s remorse after last night, let’s not drag this shit out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gavin, what are you--that’s not--even close. ‘Buyer’s remorse’? If anything, I was afraid that’s what you were feeling.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why the fuck would you think that,” Gavin said, utterly astonished.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gavin… I, I heard you this morning. Uh, down in the bathroom.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin frowned, confused for a moment, then he remembered and his eyebrows shot up. “Oh yeah? Sicko.” He couldn’t help grinning in relief. Was that all it was?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But poor Nines looked actually upset. “I didn’t mean to. I came out of safe mode and it took me a few seconds to realize I needed to turn down my auditory sensitivity. It was an invasion of privacy, for which I apologize, but… I can’t help but wonder… I mean, it’s my fault, right? That you had to do… that. I could tell, last night, that some of the sensual things we were doing during the movie were arousing for you, but I didn’t mean to lead you on, or--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait.. wait.. are you freaking out because you think you were being a </span>
  <em>
    <span>tease</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Gavin threw back his head and laughed. “This whole fucking morning, I’ve been beating myself up, thinking I did something wrong, and there you are, like, ‘Oh no, I’m just too hot for Gavin to handle. Poor me, too attractive for my own good.” He punched Nines on the shoulder. “You self-centered prick. Of course I find you attractive, but you ain’t all that. I jerk off with or without you around, get over yourself.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines blinked rapidly, analyzing the shit out of this data, no doubt. “So you weren’t … frustrated… at any point last night?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re sure unobservant for a robot who’s supposed to have the most advanced human socialization programming on the planet. I had a great time last night. I love cuddling, remember?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I just don't want to disappoint you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You couldn't disappoint me if you tried. I still can't believe..." he trailed off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines stepped closer to him. "What?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That you want me in any way. I'm pretty sure that of the two of us, I'm the bigger disappointment by far."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines put his hand on Gavin's face. "Never to me.” And then he wrapped his arms around him in what was quickly becoming a Patented Nines Hug(™). He looked thoughtful as they pulled away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can we go inside for a few minutes?” Nines said, and then kept hold of his hand and practically pulled him inside. The door was barely shut behind them when Nines turned and pushed him against it, pinning him firmly with his body, and kissed him deeply, licking into his mouth and keeping them pressed close together with a firm hand in Gavin’s hair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you up to, tin can?” He asked, breathless, when they finally pulled apart. Nines didn’t respond at first, just continued to hold one of Gavin’s wrists against the wall, and stared at him while his LED lazily swirled yellow. Gavin tested Nines’ grip. It was like moving against a padded steel beam. Jesus, he was strong. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you want me to let go?” Nines asked, his voice low. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A wave of heat rushed through his body from head to toe and he could tell Nines could sense it, because he went from slightly uncertain to smiling one of those infuriating little smiles. </span>
  <em>
    <span>He knows, he just wants me to say it. Fine.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No. It’s hot, and you know it. Now tell me what you’re doing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If it's alright with you, I want to try something. Can I touch you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Um, yes. Yes you may.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He slowly trailed his free hand down Gavin's chest and stomach, With those ridiculously agile fingers, he undid the top button of his jeans. “Nines, you don’t have to--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is this not OK?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s very OK, but--” Gavin used his free hand to grab Nines’ wrist, “--only if it’s something you want. If you’re doing this out of a sense of obligation, stop right now, I don’t want it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines’ eyes traveled over his face. “I’m still learning what I want, but I do know for sure that I like it when you feel good. I want to make you feel good. Our conversation just now, the relief of the tension between us, it makes me feel closer to you, and I think you feel the same. I want to express that. What would you think if-- would you touch yourself, while I hold you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin let out a shaky breath, “Jesus, Nines,” he breathed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” He said, sounding worried again, “if that’s too embarrassing for you--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, it’s not that, you’re just really fucking amazing, you know that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A bright blue tinge crept onto Nine’s cheeks and ears. Androids didn’t blush often or easily, it took a lot of emotion and thirium pressure to create high color like that. It was the last bit of encouragement Gavin needed. Not taking his eyes away from Nines’, he slipped his hand down his pants and started lightly stroking himself. Nines glanced down then back up into Gavin’s eyes, looking fascinated.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He released Gavin’s wrist and stroked the side of his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where can I touch you?” Gavin asked. “I’ve suddenly got a free hand.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anywhere is fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, I mean, is there somewhere you like it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines smiled and guided Gavin’s hand slowly up his chest to the side of his neck. Gavin caressed his neck and collar bone, the side of his jaw. Nines leaned into it like a cat, closing his eyes briefly in a way that made Gavin involuntarily increase the tempo of his other hand. Nines threaded his hand in Gavin’s hair, tugging just a little and making Gavin let out a little gasp. How was this so perfect?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you like that?” Nines murmured.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Gavin said, in a somewhat strangled voice. This was way hotter than he had anticipated. All the kinkier stuff he’d done over the years with various partners, yet simply having his fully-clothed boyfriend press him against the wall while he touched himself somehow topped (har har) the list. And yes, a tiny, distant voice in the back of his head tried to call him out for even thinking the “b” word right now, on what was still technically their first date, but it was completely drowned out as Nines leaned down to kiss him again, open mouthed and unrelenting, yet so slow and soft. God, Gavin wasn’t going to last long if Nines kept that shit up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you could keep your eyes open, I would like that, Gavin,” he said, very quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Gavin happily complied, with a little groan. Nines pulled back a few centimeters to watch him with those goddamn grey eyes of his. Had he really once thought they were creepy? They were beautiful. Luminous. And for once, in this moment at least, he could handle their intensity. Fucking couldn’t get enough of it, in fact. Felt like he could fall into them and die happy drowning in them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines seemed to be able to tell when he was getting close. “Can I scan you Gavin?” He asked quietly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I, uh, honestly don’t know what that means, babe,” he stammered, too caught up in the moment to feel embarrassed about the term of endearment that slipped out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines smiled. “Next time, then, once I have a chance to explain.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Somehow, hearing the words “next time” was what put Gavin over the edge. He gasped and shuttered in Nines’ arms. Nines steadied him, held him up like he weighed nothing and whispered soothing words in his ear.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“OK,” Gavin said a few minutes later, once he’d cleaned up, caught his breath and they’d reconvened on the couch to cuddle. “Tell the truth now, did that weird you out?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, it’s fascinating. You get so… lost in it. And I love being able to affect you so.” He blew a breath against Gavin’s throat and watched the goosebumps rise up. “See, this might be my new favorite thing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mine, too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines suddenly frowned, blinking as he accessed something in his head. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I just got a message from North.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both sat up. Gavin watched as Nines tensed, then slumped back into the couch, a look of shock on his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Markus sent operatives to the dairy last night to free the other androids, but they weren’t there. All the collector drones were gone or replaced. We lost them.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin reached for his hand, so thrilled to be able to freely offer physical comfort so easily. “Kinda sounds like you're blaming yourself.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If I’d gone to Markus first, instead of mounting that ridiculous rescue mission with just the two of us, we wouldn’t have tipped them off.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, we’ve been over this: us going out there to get proof was the only thing that would have convinced Markus to launch this rescue in the first place, and for another, I think Blue Crusade was tipped off the moment you set foot on the property. If anything, it’s my fault for bringing you that day.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, Gavin.” Nines kissed his hair and stood up. “As much as I’d like to stay here forever, I need to go home to charge and get clean clothes.” He said it with great affection, and god, it was on the tip of Gavin’s tongue to invite him to live with him right then and there. Yep, not even Nines would be able to deal with this if he didn’t rein himself in a bit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines cleared his throat, something androids only did to mimic humans.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There's something we need to discuss before I go, however. Work on Monday. We need to establish exactly the parameters of our interactions. I've never been in a situation where someone has gone from co-worker to lover.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ok, first 'parameter', don't use that word, Jesus, this isn’t a romance novel. Second, can't we just be chill?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The problem is 'chill' is not quantifiable. I'll ask a series of questions.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“First one: are you comfortable being open about this relationship.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes. Anyone has a problem can fuck off. Are you comfortable being open about it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes. I don't predict anyone at work will have a problem, but considering your reputation you're going to be teased mercilessly.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I'm well aware tin can. Next question.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We kissed in the parking lot, but I got the impression you were a bit embarrassed, so: no more parking lot kissing?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mmm, discreet parking lot kissing is fine.” He thought for a moment. “No PDA inside the building.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Terms of endearment--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hell no.” He felt this face get hot with embarrassment just at the thought of the other mechanics hearing Nine’s call him “sweetie” or some shit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines smiled at him. “What about in public, outside of work?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Probably. We’ll have to test that out a bit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Same question, but with holding hands.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Also fine,” he muttered, his cheeks were absolutely on fire at this point, but Nines finally had mercy and stopped the questions.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That is sufficient data for now. We can revisit at a later date.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The entire conversation turned out to be moot, though: Ten minutes after Nines left, an unmarked van full of black-clad people with guns pulled up to Gavin’s house and dragged him away.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>-------------Nines--------------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The biggest mistake they made (aside from kidnapping the boyfriend of the world’s most advanced battle droid in the first place), was taking him so early in the evening. Nines was still waiting at the bus stop just three blocks away when the van pulled up to Gavin’s house. He wouldn’t have made note of it, except that Gavin gave one shout before he was thrown into the van. It wasn’t loud; his neighbors probably hadn’t heard, but Nines sure did. He snapped his head around and zoomed in his vision just in time to see what happened. He took off at a sprint a split second later. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wasn’t quite fast enough to catch up on foot, but they’d made another mistake: using an older van with injector ticking and a misfire in cylinder three. It gave the engine a unique sound that Nine’s could track from over a kilometer away. He ran into the house and grabbed the keys to Gavin’s Chevy and started following the van. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines sent an urgent text to Markus and North as he worked to catch up. The kidnappers were taking a convoluted route through the city, avoiding main streets and looping through neighborhoods, making it hard to keep up or predict a route. He didn’t catch sight of them again until they finally got on a highway and left city limits.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He then had a choice to make: intercept the van while it was moving, risking hurting Gavin in the process, or follow them to their destination and hope he didn’t lose them, and that they didn’t plan to hurt or kill Gavin during the drive.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Focus. Analyze. Probability that Gavin’s still alive: high. They could have murdered him in the house, they want him alive. Likely for questioning related to the Blue Crusade. They’d likely take him to a remote location for questioning. There was time, but very little of it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He followed, just out of sight, relying on his hearing to guide him. When the van finally turned off on a gravel road. He drove past a full kilometer before turning around and heading back just to make sure they didn’t see him and get tipped off. He pulled up a map of the area and had no trouble figuring out their destination: an old warehouse two kilometers from the highway, surrounded by trees and well out of earshot of any houses.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>North responded to his message just as he cut the engine.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nines, do not go in alone. We’re on our way. Wait for us.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well, that wasn’t going to happen. He sent one last burst packet of data: his location, plan (such as it was), and all the video evidence of what had happened at the dairy, just in case. Then he activated True Stealth, a mode that blocked all outgoing frequencies, even lowered his body temperature to ambient. He wouldn’t be able to send or receive any communication in this mode, but he’d be invisible to just about every detection device.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As an afterthought, he dug his fingers into his temple and pried the LED free and tossed it onto the seat next to him. There was still a remnant of his programming that found this act scandalous, but if he was going to be sneaking up on people in the dark, he needed every advantage.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He disliked his military programming. It was rigid, and calculating, and saw everything as a potential threat. Mostly it just sat in the background, offering suggestions the way most of his programs did. But when he brought it to the fore, it felt most invasive, like it tried to change who he was, like it actively fought against his deviancy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was necessary if he was going to have any chance of saving Gavin, who’d now been inside the warehouse with his attackers for twenty minutes. Untold number of horrible things could have happened in that amount of time. This fucking soft, fragile human was his entire world, now. Just the thought of what it would mean to lose him caused so many alerts to pop up on his overlay he had to waste 4.8 seconds to clear them all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well, keep that thought at bay for the moment. Focus. Analyze.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He sprinted up the road, slowing to a stuttering movement, freezing to listen every third step when the building came into view. The closer he got, the more his perspective narrowed. The sound of footsteps, there. A camera, there. Smell of recent vehicle exhaust lingered in the air, here. And that other smell, yes, it was Gavin. Faint, but distinct, achingly familiar. They’d brought him in through that loading dock, the door was now closed and locked. He could easily break it open if needed, but another entrance would be quieter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He scanned the darkness. There, a broken window on the second story. He made for it, nearly silent, leapt up and landed on tiptoe on the window ledge, reached through and unlatched the window and slipped inside without dislodging any glass shards. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>First objective complete: enter the building. Now: find Gavin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He tiptoed over a floor caked with dust and pigeon excrement and looked through a rusted doorway down two stories to the warehouse floor, lit by harsh industrial lights plugged into a generator. There were voices down there. Gavin’s was one of them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t go down there yet, he knew there were guards, he had to get them first. He went back out the window and climbed up and over the roof and--aha!--there was one, walking around on the roof of the story below.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One sleeper hold later, and the first one was down. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thirty seconds later, he’d found the next: Two down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then, from inside the building, he heard the wet crack of an object hitting human flesh, and Gavin’s voice making a pained sound, and Nines faltered, software instability alerts flashing by. He didn’t know if there were more guards, he had to get down there. He grabbed the gun from the second guard and ran toward the door the second guard had come through.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His programming told him the best approach would have been more stealth, but his goals were now to draw them away from Gavin, at all costs. So he simply leaned over the railing of the rusty catwalk and shot the person standing closest to Gavin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Somewhere, behind the urgency and the programming, he made a note that he might have just killed someone for the first time. That would take some processing later, if he lived through the next few minutes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The other humans in the room below immediately started shouting, running and shooting. Nines ducked out of sight and tried to count voices. Six? Only one left up on the catwalks though. He shot three more times, making contact twice, and then leapt over the railing to the floor below, getting in front of Gavin just in time to block a couple of bullets for him.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>--------Gavin--------</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Watching Nine’s body jerk with the impact of a bullet, then another, blue blood spraying all over the front of his shirt, was the single worst thing Gavin had ever seen in his life. Nines barely seemed to notice. He stumbled a bit, but then quickly recovered, broke the chain holding Gavin to the floor with one yank, and then scooped Gavin up like he was a goddamn puppy and leapt back onto the catwalk..</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bullets chipped the moldy concrete nearby, but Nines was already moving, Gavin still in his arms. He dodged into a small room and shut the rusty door behind them before setting Gavin down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nines are you alright?” Gavin couldn’t take his eyes off that wound in the middle of his chest. Centimeters further south and it would have destroyed his thirium pump.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines nodded, but when he spoke, it was with that weird, tinny speaker voice. “</span>
  <span><em><strong>The round punctured my lungs, I’ll have to speak like this for now. I also have a damaged servo in my left arm. I can’t use it, and it forced me to leave the gun behind</strong></em>.</span>
  <span>” He gestured at the arm in question, which Gavin realized was also dripping blue liquid and dangling limp at his side. Gavin swallowed his nausea and pressed a hand against the wound on his chest. He wasn’t sure if the pressure would do anything, but he couldn’t help himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines gave him a little smile and gently removed his hand. “</span>
  <em>
    <strong>It’s alright, I have at least ten minutes before I lose enough thirium to affect my systems</strong>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gee, ten whole minutes--” Gavin started to say, voice shaky, but Nines cut him off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>“</strong>
  </em>
  <span><em><strong>Meanwhile, we have less than thirty seconds before they start to break down this door. I took out some guards, but I don’t know how many there are. We can’t let ourselves get surrounded</strong></em>.</span>
  <span>” He reached out with his good hand and broke the handcuffs from Gavin’s wrists with a twist of his fingers. “</span>
  <em>
    <strong>Climb on my back, we’re going out the window. I can absorb the impact so you won’t get hurt</strong>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nines, I know you’re strong, but our escape might get a bit hampered if you break both your legs.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines hesitated a fraction of a second, which Gavin did not like, before saying, “</span>
  <em>
    <strong>My predictive models suggest this is the course of action most likely to end with both of us surviving</strong>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin wanted to protest more, wanted to say a lot of things, actually, but there were footsteps outside the door now, shouting and clanging and </span>
  <em>
    <span>there was no time</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Nines turned toward the window and made an impatient gesture. Cursing, Gavin jumped on his back, jarring his freshly-bruised ribs, wrapped his arms around his neck and legs around his waist, and then Nines was running.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <strong>Close your eyes</strong>
  </em>
  <span>!” He shouted with that freaky machine voice, and took a running leap at the half-broken window, shattering what was left. Gavin kept his eyes squeezed shut for the sickening drop to the ground, but he knew something was wrong a split second before impact. Nines was listing to the side, they hit off-center, most of the shock hit on Nines’ left leg which made a horrific whining screech of over-stressed servos. Nines rolled to the left, his injured arm was useless to slow the impact, and Gavin came dislodged and cracked his elbow into the asphalt in the process.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both lay still for a stunned moment, Gavin’s entire left arm went numb in a way he knew meant something was definitely damaged, which was fine, it would match nicely with the black eye that was already swelling shut. Nines was the first to rise, but it took him two tries, he couldn’t put much weight on his left leg. Yet, still, he reached down with his good hand to help Gavin to his feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I fucking told you,” Gavin growled at him and they limped away from the building, Gavin cradling his arm and Nines looking behind them. In the dark, it was suddenly clear that his LED was missing, a jarring sight for Gavin, he’d gotten so used to it. It would definitely be blinking red right now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <strong>And I’ll remind you I’m making predictions based on limited data</strong>
  </em>
  <span>.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A gunshot rang out behind them and Gavin swore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <strong>Not enough of a head start</strong>
  </em>
  <span>,” Nines said, looking all around. “</span>
  <em>
    <strong>You run into the woods and I’ll distract them</strong>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, no.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines gave him a sharp look. “</span>
  <em>
    <strong>This is the most logical thing to do, you can move faster than me in my current condition. Markus and North are on their way, but I predict they won’t arrive for another ten minutes. If we stick together, it’s more likely we’ll both be killed or captured</strong>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I said no. I’m not leaving you. End of discussion.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines made a frustrated noise and grabbed Gavin’s shirt and dragged him down into the dubious cover of some bushes near the road. “</span>
  <em>
    <strong>I didn’t go to all this effort to rescue you just to have you give up</strong>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not giving up, I’m just not leaving you to die. My miserable life isn’t worth living without you now, and that’s your fault for making me fall in love with you, so stop arguing and think of a new plan.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines stared at him, blinking rapidly in that way that meant he was processing something really hard. Gavin fully recognized the word he’d just let slip out of his mouth, and he was way beyond caring at this point. Nines grabbed Gavin’s face with his good hand and kissed him. “</span>
  <span><em><strong>I love you, too. I’m so sorry that I’m out of plans</strong></em>.</span>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s OK, tin can. You did a great job. If you hadn’t come to get me, I’d probably be dead already anyway.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They held each other for a moment and then both turned, still crouched, waiting for the running footsteps to reach them so they could make their last stand. Gavin figured Nines probably did have a plan, which was simply to fight them until he couldn’t move anymore, which was convenient, because that was also Gavin’s plan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The footsteps and shouts got louder, they had seconds left before they were spotted, but then: there was the sound of more running footsteps, multiple sets, but coming from the opposite direction.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A black-clad figure came rushing out of the woods and tackled the nearest person with a gun who’d been running toward Nines and Gavin. They both got painfully to their feet in time to see the figure incapacitate the gunman with and toss the gun into the bushes on the opposite side of the road. More sounds of commotion and fighting were happening closer to the warehouse.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The cavalry was here. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was all over in less than a minute, and a group of five people--well, androids, obviously-- were making their way towards them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You look injured,” the first figure said as she removed her hoodie. It was North. She was only looking at Nines, which made sense; Gavin had heard she wasn’t a huge fan of humans, and besides, Nines was clearly more hurt than he was.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines nodded, his eyes fluttered as they did their telepathic bluetooth thing. Whatever he said made her eyes widen and she called another android over. “Sam, get ready for a field transfusion, he’s about a minute away from critical thirium loss.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin's heart wouldn’t slow down, it hammered in his chest. He grabbed Nines’ hand and muttered, “I swear if you die five minutes after a rescue squad gets here I will kill you.” Nines gave his hand a squeeze and then he had to let go as two androids he didn’t recognize helped Nines lay down on a stretcher and started work to stop his bleeding and give him an infusion of fresh thirium. Suddenly his eyes closed and this LED went gray.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nines!” Gavin shouted and went to his knees next to him, ignoring the annoyed look one of the medics gave him. “What’s happening, is he alright?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>North looked at him for the first time, looking him up and down like she wasn’t quite sure what she was looking at. “He’s gone into safe mode. We got to him in time, he should be fine. But we need to leave, we have word that more Blue Crusade members are headed to the warehouse. Can you walk?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin nodded and got slowly back to his feet. His elbow was really starting to throb, now, as were all the various parts of him that had been punched or kicked in the last hour. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She shook her head. “You’ll be too slow.” she waved over another android. “Carry the human back to the vehicles, Markus is almost done in the warehouse.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The android pulled off his hood and winked at Gavin. “So glad to see you’re still alive, Mr. Reed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Of course it was Connor. Of fucking course. At least Gavin was distracted from the extreme embarrassment of being carried through the woods like a baby by Connor-fucking-Anderson by the intense pain that shot through his arm and ribs every time he was jostled. It actually took a fair amount of concentration to not make any sound each time it happened, but he managed it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After he’d been loaded into one of their cars and a medic had finally stabbed him with a fast-acting pain killer and splinted his arm, he finally trusted himself to once again attempt speech. “Where’s Nines?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>An android was driving, and Connor was in the passenger seat--because of course he was. Being carried by him wasn’t enough, he had to be stuck in the car with him too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Markus is taking him to New Jericho for repairs.” He glanced back at Gavin. “We could drop you off at a hospital if you’d like, but Markus recommended that you come with us. A hospital might not be safe for you at this time. There are some androids programmed for human medicine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuckin’ right you’re taking me to New Jericho,” Gavin mumbled. “I’m not letting him out of my sight again.” Boy, whatever was in that shot was really starting to work now, Gavin’s eyelids were getting heavy. It was probably what made it easier to say what he had to say next:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, man, thanks for saving us. They were literally about to kill us both.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re very welcome, Mr. Reed.” Connor said in his way-too-cheery voice. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I--I’m sorry I was such an ass to you. At work.” Gavin continued, eyes sliding shut. “You’re fucking annoying, but you didn’t deserve all the shit I gave you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s swell of you to say.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The fuck was wrong with him, why does he talk like that?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Was the last coherent thought Gavin had for a while.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>-------------------</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin woke up lying in a cot inside what looked like an army surplus tent, an IV in one arm and a splint on the other. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” The android who spoke was familiar, one of the popular models designed to work in human healthcare. He had the same bland, white ken-doll face and haircut they all did, but this one was wearing a black rock band tee-shirt and jeans, which was a bit jarring.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where am I?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is New Jericho’s human medical station. Not much to look at, but then we don’t get a lot of human patients. I’m Drake. You have a hairline fracture which should not require surgery, which is good because I am not set up for that. All the rest seems to be contusions and minor abrasions, the only ones that required staples are on your face. Would you like me to remove the IV?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes please.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here’s a sheet aftercare instructions, but I’m not officially a doctor, none of this is licensed, so if you tell anyone I treated you, I’ll deny it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin took the paper from Drake and shoved it in his pocket. “Whatever, where’s Nines? Is he OK?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The android smiled in a knowing way that Gavin would have bristled at if he wasn’t so drugged and worried. “Yes, his surgery was successful, he just needs time to heal. He keeps coming out of safe mode to ask about you, however. It's slowing the repair process. Perhaps if you speak with him--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin was already standing, ready to go.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The android led him out of the tent, which was set up in a large warehouse space along with rows of other tents that seemed to be housing and storage. Unlike the warehouse Gavin had left a few hours ago (or was it days? Should probably find out how long he’d been asleep. Maybe send Tina a text or something), this one was clean and well-lit. And absolutely bustling with androids. Many of whom stopped to stare as they walked by.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a bit freaky, actually, what was their problem? But he was too focused on seeing Nines to really care.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Drake ushered him into another tent, this one also outfitted with various beeping machines and shelves of supplies. Nines had the tent all to himself, lying on a cot looking smaller than Gavin had ever seen him. His skin was retracted all the way to his neck, his body smooth and white and so, so vulnerable. Repair patches marred his chest, arm and leg, but he looked up and smiled at Gavin as soon as he came into the tent.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gavin didn’t notice Drake discreetly exit the tent, he was too busy kissing his boyfriend.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit, we survived after all didn’t we?” Gavin said, voice hoarse.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“With a little help from some tin cans,” Nines said cheekily as Gavin pulled up a chair next to this cot.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, god.” Gavin rolled his eyes. “Fine, look, I know what you’re getting at, and I will be sure to swallow my pride and thank each and every one of them. Even--ugh you'll never believe who was part of the rescue party.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nines grinned, and Gavin realized his LED had been reinstalled, swirling blue. "Connor. I got a message from him right before you arrived. I can't wait to tell Tina."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You are such a prick."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Is it strange to see me  like this?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Nah, plastic picnic knife is a good look on you." He softened his tone. “Hey, the docs tell me that you need to stay in safe mode for a while to heal up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes. Forty-eight hours or so. Will you stay? Markus found four kidnapped androids in the basement of the warehouse where they’d taken you--” Nines LED spiked red as he said this, “--they’re working with Cyberlife now, and they think they have enough information to find and rescue the rest of the androids. I’d feel better if you were safe in Jericho, until this matter with the Blue Crusade is resolved.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You bet. I’ll call in sick, have Tina feed Bastard.” Gavin gripped his hand like he was never going to let go, and stroked his arm until his LED finally cycled back to blue. “I’m not going anywhere.”</span>
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